


Burnt Espresso

by skymageariel



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff, Angst/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Highschool AU, Modern AU, Rayllum, fake dating au, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28131681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel
Summary: Polar opposites Rayla and Callum have no clue who the other is, aside from their mutual connections with siblings Soren and Claudia. Yet after a bit of observation, Soren and Claudia notice that their best friends might be perfect for one another. However, if they want that ship to sail, a bit of bribery might have to take place.
Relationships: Callum & Claudia (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Rayla & Soren (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 70
Kudos: 102





	1. january 15

The auxiliary gymnasium at Katolis High always smelled like rubber, sweat, and shitty laundry detergent. The maroon and gold paint on the walls was peeling, and the windows were so foggy that hardly any light shone through. It was small, dingy, and trashy; used for second priority gym classes, and practices for any sport that wasn’t basketball. Hence the volleyball net stretched between two metal rods, splitting the room in half. The net separated two arch rivals, dead set on besting the other at their own game. Soren, on the far side of the net, stood low, hyper focused on the ball coming towards him. Sweat dripped down his forehead in anticipation of the play to come. Rayla, on the near side of the net, crouched at the ready, waiting for his return with her hands clasped together. One-on-one drills with Soren were not unusual. She’d learned so much about the assistant coach that if she tried, she could win the drill, right here, right now. 

The ball started to drop from the air, further from Soren than he’d expected. But as fast as the ball fell, he was faster. With a sidestep and a cheeky grin, Soren planted his hands under the ball, bumping it right back over the net. Disappointed that her plan didn’t pan out, Rayla hit the ball back over, planning a new strategy. 

“You’ve got your thinking face on!” Soren yelled from across the aux gym, watching the ball fall back over to his side. 

“I don’t have a planning face,” Rayla argued. She bumped the bottom of the ball with as much force as she could, sending it to the back of the court. Soren was good at the game. He was quick on his feet, able to make decisions at the drop of a hat. But his weakness is that they were never good decisions. She watched in slow motion as the battered ball made its way over the net, towards the back of the court. Rayla knew that if Soren let the ball go, it would land out of bounds. But he wouldn’t. He was too cocky. 

Soren’s hands absorbed the motion of the ball, volleying it back over with as much might as he could, leaning back so his feet stayed in the boundaries. The ball was sent flying back over at the speed of light, but as soon as it passed the net, Soren realized his mistake. Right up on the net, Rayla jumped as high as she could, spiking the ball with a  _ SMACK _ , sending it to the ground like a meteor. It hit the hardwood floor with a  _ BANG _ , echoing across the whole gym in shockwaves, practically leaving a crater in the floor. Rayla grinned from her side of the net. She had just beat her coach in a one v one. 

“Great work!” Soren called out to her, recovering from that unfortunate loss. He picked up the ball as it rolled away, walking forward to shake Rayla’s hand under the curtain. “You’ve really improved since last year.”

“You’re just mad that I beat you,” Rayla chided, ducking under the net so the two stood side by side. Soren scoffed.

“Psh. Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes, bouncing the ball on the ground. “But I am starting to see how you made varsity this year.”

“What do you mean  _ starting _ to see?”

“Let’s reset- I’ve got another drill set up,” Soren ignored the comment and started backing up to serve. This wasn’t a drill, this was a rematch. Rayla took the hint and moved back to her side. 

Soren tossed the ball in the air, where it hung for a moment before falling again. The ball was served, and the room fell silent aside from hands hitting the ball back and forth. A rhythm fell over them, the ball jumping from one side to the other in constant kinetic energy. Rayla watched with anticipation every time it was volleyed back to her. Within mere seconds, she knew where the ball would land and how to get there. With a step and a lunge, she sent the ball to the other side with ease, ignoring Soren’s playful scowl. So many of these volleys he was sure would land him a point, but Rayla was something else on the court. She dodged every obstacle, making her way to precisely where she needed to be to save her side the cost of a point. Yet before Rayla could begin to formulate a plan to secure the second win of the day, Soren’s phone went off in his bag on the sidelines.

“Shoot, I should get that,” he said, catching the volleyball before striding off the court. “Take a lap, I’ll just be a minute.”

“This isn’t a real practice,” Rayla frowned, “I’m not taking a lap.” Soren, who already had the phone to his ear, stuck out his tongue at her. Real mature. 

“Yeah, no, I’m on it,” Soren said into the phone, “I told you, I’m on it. Don’t worry about it.” He paused as the person on the other line spoke. “No, it hasn’t come up yet- fine, fine. I’m going. Jeez.” Hanging up, Soren turned to see Rayla pretending not to eavesdrop.

“Who was that?” she asked, preparing to receive Soren’s serve as he made his way to the opposite end of the court.

“ My boyfriend,” he answered simply. “We’re finalizing tickets for a show we wanna see together.” The ball rose in the air, Soren hitting it over towards his opponent.

“How is he doing anyway?” Rayla asked, hitting the ball over the net. “Your boyfriend, I mean.”

“Oh, he’s great,” Soren answered with authenticity. “We’re going out on Friday. Care to join?” He laughed as his hands pushed the ball forward.

“I won’t be third wheeling you guys, no way.” Step to the side. Hit. 

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you’re  _ forever alone, _ ” Soren teased. Step up. Volley.

“Shut up.” Fall back. Hit.

“Admit it, you’re jelly,” Soren chided as the ball made it’s way to him. “You’re super duper jealous of my relationship, aren’t you?” He bumped the ball back over, the question jarring Rayla just enough to send her off her rhythm. The ball fell through her hands, hitting the ground. “Point Soren!” he cheered.

“I’m not jealous,” Rayla called back, stepping back to serve. 

“Oh, right,” Soren laughed as she hit the ball over. “You’re just sad you’ll be alone on Valentine’s day for the seventeenth year in a row.” 

Fed up, Rayla caught the ball before she served. “This has been fun,” she said, stepping off the court with a sarcastic air to her words. 

“Oh, come on, Rayla, you know I was joking,” Soren jogged up next to her. 

“Uh huh. Sure.”

“No, really! I know you’re not mad about being alone on Valentine’s day,” Soren assured her as they left the gym and headed towards the locker room. He grinned mischievously before he spoke again. “You’re just bitter that you’re too intimidating for someone to want to date you.”

“Shut up!” Rayla hid a laugh, shoving the volleyball into Soren’s stomach. “I don’t care about that mushy stuff.” They walked into the vacant boy’s locker room where their things had been stored. Soren tossed the ball in a utility closet before following Rayla inside.

“Ooo, sounds like someone’s bitter,” he teased again. “Admit it- you’re jealous of me because  _ you  _ can’t land a partner.”

“You couldn’t be further from the truth,” Rayla scoffed, taking her hair out of the ponytail it was in and brushing it through. “I could probably find someone by the end of next week if I wanted to.” 

“Oh, wanna bet?” Soren crossed his arms, a playful smirk plastered across his face. Rayla dropped her hairbrush back in her bag, turning to face Soren head on. She was never one to turn down a bet.

“Maybe I do wanna bet,” she smiled, matching his energy. “What are the parameters?”

“You have to land a date between now and next Friday.”

Rayla scoffed. “Child’s play.”

“ _ And _ you have to stay with them for at least a month, therefore ending your sixteen year single streak for Valentine’s day.” Soren stood up tall, proud of these arrangements. “ _ And _ you have to actually  _ like  _ the person.”

“Easy peasy,” Rayla smirked, pulling her backpack from the locker without breaking eye contact. “What do I win when I beat you?”

“ _ If  _ you win,” he corrected. “And you get bragging rights for the rest of the volleyball season. 

“ _ Bragging rights _ ?” Rayla raised a brow. Soren hated people bragging over him. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. If you pull this off, you get to gloat and boast all throughout the season that your assistant coach lost a bet to-“ he waved his hand at her with a flourish- “you.”

Rayla frowned. “What’s the catch.”

“If I win the bet, I’ll have bragging rights instead.” He chuckled as Rayla’s eyes widened. Soren bragged enough as it was, but when he had an excuse? He was a nightmare. “Tough call, I know,” he said, “But if you win, I won’t tell you to stop bragging  _ no matter where we are. _ ”

“Deal.” Shouldering her backpack, Rayla stuck out a hand. They shook on the bet, Soren’s sweaty hand leaving a residue on hers. “Ew,” she commented aloud.

“More of that when you lose the bet,” he replied with an evil smile. Rayla rolled her eyes. She was  _ so _ going to win.

——————

Down the hall from the aux gym was the music wing. A relatively new part of the school, but still somehow damp and musty as if it were hundreds of years old. The music wing featured some of the only carpeted rooms in the school, as well as the maintenance ladder to the roof. The music wing was an afterthought, and it was treated as such. The practice rooms had extremely poor ventilation, the carpets throughout each room stained with a mystery substance, and shitty chairs with uneven legs were always scattered in an uneven formation (accompanied by music stands that kept sinking whenever you’d raise them). But putting all those things aside, freshman Callum had quickly adopted the band room as his favorite. Even now, three years later, he still sometimes stayed after school, just to spend more time there, practicing to his heart’s content. 

He and Claudia sat in a practice room together, yet each had very different intentions. Claudia was marking up her script for Katolis High Theatre’s winter show, while Callum played through a frantic and jumpy piece he was learning for an upcoming recital.

Callum always handled his flute with grace, treating it with care, and playing it with love. Every solo he chose was one that would challenge both he and his instrument into achieving new heights together. This piece was no exception. Each measure tested Callum’s abilities as he went through. Jumping octaves without squeaking, pulling off the hardest note combinations, running through sixteenth notes like a knife through butter- all challenges that he was doing his best to conquer. Yet as he played through, things went awry. He’d miss a button, screw up a sixteenth note. Classic musician failures. 

When he finished the run through, Claudia put down her script to clap for him. Callum pretended to ignore her, immediately picking up the pen he kept on his stand to make markings on the music.

“That was really good!” Claudia smiled, “You really made some progress, considering you’ve only had the piece a week.”

“Yeah, well,” Callum sighed, “I’ve still got a lot of work to do. The recital is a month away, and it’s gotta be perfect.” He circled measures on measures, adding little notes as he went. Claudia laughed silently as he scribbled on the paper. 

“You’re so serious about this stuff,” she said, highlighting a line in her script.

“Well yeah,” he shrugged, “If I want to make flute a carreer one day, I’m gonna have to put in the work. “ Callum raised the flute to his lips, taking a deep breath before running a set again. Note after note was perfect. Well, to Claudia it was. But as he continued, Callum often paused, repeating a note over and over until the pitch was  _ just  _ right before continuing. Claudia had watched him play on so many occasions that she almost separated her best friend from the musician. When he was playing, he looked like a whole different person. That goofy smile was replaced by a serious, focused scowl, and those hands that couldn’t stop fidgeting could suddenly perform a choreographed dance in perfect rhythm. It was fascinating to watch and to listen to. 

Halfway through the measures, Callum’s flute squeaked. With a grimace he paused, examining the instrument for the cause. Twisting the parts tighter, he tried the note again. It played smoothly, pitch resonating against the walls of the practice room. 

“There we go,” he muttered, raising the instrument to play again. 

“Maybe you should take a break,” Claudia warned before he could make a sound. “You’ve been at this for an hour and a half already. What time did you need to be home again?”

“Not until six,” Callum assured her. “I’ve got time. Maybe  _ you  _ should take a break- you’ve had your nose in that script since you got it earlier today.” He sat next to her, reading over her shoulder. 

“Maybe we could both use a break,” Claudia agreed, closing the script and turning to him. “What do you wanna do now?”

“Uh…” Callum shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Well what do you normally do when you take breaks?” Claudia asked. Callum blinked. “Oh come on, what do you normally do when you take a break?”

“Work on a different assignment or project.”

“Dude, you need to relax! Find a hobby or something.” Claudia pulled her backpack onto her lap, stuffing her script inside.

“Well flute  _ is  _ my hobby,” he replied, confused. “Why can’t I work on my hobby?”

Claudia scoffed lightheartedly. “You have gotta be kidding.”

“Where’s the joke?”

“Your hobby is to practice until your hands fall off,” she said to him. Callum shook his head.

“Not really. My hobby is making music. I find so much joy in doing that,” he said, standing again. “It’s one of the few things I have for me to enjoy. It’s a passion, Claudia.” He moved behind his music stand again, turning back to the music. 

“Well, sometimes you have to take a break from your passions.”

“Not everyone has time for that.” He took a step back, leg hitting the chair behind him. His flute case, already battered and broken, fell from the seat and clattered to the floor. With a sigh, Callum crouched down and picked it up to see that one of the hinges had come undone. 

“Yikes,” Claudia grimaced. “That’s not good.”

“No shit.” He dropped the case back onto the chair and turned to start practicing again. But before he could start, Claudia started to mumble a snarky remark.

“I bet if you had a boyfriend or something you’d loosen up,” she said under her breath. Callum blushed and stared.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I’m just saying, maybe if you found someone you’d start to relax!” Claudia stood, raising her shoulders. 

“Again,” Callum laughed, “Not everyone has time for that.” 

“Oh come on, you have to admit the change of pace would be good for you.” Claudia stepped closer to where he stood. “In fact, I know a few people I could set you up with-“

“Not interested. Can I get back to this?”

“Oh come ooonnn,” she groaned again, “You have to let me set you up with someone.”

“Claudia,” he placed a hand on her shoulder, “I don’t need a significant other. I’ll be okay.” He smiled before lowering his hand. 

Claudia pursed her lips and crossed her arm in her signature pout. But then her eyes landed on Callum’s flute case. The felt inside was frayed and barely holding on, the clasps on the outside were lopsided and didn’t always lock, and most recently, one of the hinges was disconnected and broken. As soon as she saw the case, though, she reached an epiphany. Face lighting up, Claudia tapped her finger to the tip of her nose, making Callum raise a brow.

“I know that face,” he said, “You have an idea, don’t you?”

She could hardly contain her excitement. “If you can find a significant other to spend Valentine’s day with, I’ll buy you a new flute case.”

“Wait, what?”

“If you can find a partner to spend Valentine’s day with I’ll buy you a new case!” she repeated, beaming. Callum’s face distorted, but before he could respond, she said, “It’ll be fun, I promise! You’ll relax a bit, take some breaks from school and practice and stuff- take the bet, please?” She clasped her hands together, putting on her best begging face. Callum looked at his case again, pinpointing every flaw in half a second. 

If he took the bet and lost, he wouldn’t lose a single thing. In fact, he could lose on purpose and keep his schedule the same all the while. But if he won, he’ll have struck gold. New cases were expensive, and he certainly didn’t have the money for one. But if that case took one more tumble, the flute inside would be in jeopardy of getting damaged.

“Yeah, all right,” he shrugged. “What could I have to lose?”

“EEEE! That’s so exciting!” Claudia squealed on a note higher than a piccolo. She buried him in a hug that bound his arms to his side.

“Okay, okay,” he croaked, struggling to breathe, “Is the hug necessary?”

“Yes!” She pulled him off his feet.

“No! Put me down!” 

“You’re just so small,” she giggled, putting him down and pushing him away. He tried to scowl at her, but secretly he really liked Claudia’s hugs. She sighed, exasperated. “You’re finally coming out of your shell, Callum, this is a huge step!”

“I’m not a hermit crab,” he retorted, checking his phone for the time. At the screen, his eyes widened. “Oh, shoot, I need to get home!” He started pulling his flute apart, placing the pieces in the respective spots in the case. 

“This is  _ so  _ exciting! One month from now, you could have a perfectly new case,” Claudia teased in a sing-song voice.

“Sounds great, I need to get home. I promised Ezran I’d help with some of his homework.” He scooped up his case, pulling his music from the stand before rushing out of the room. “See you on Monday, Claudia!” He called as the practice room door closed behind him.

“Bye, Mr. Loverman!” she yelled after him.

“Shut up!” his voice was muffled behind the door, but still lighthearted. Claudia smiled to herself; the plan was in motion.

——————-

Down the hall, Callum rushed towards the front door, flute case and disheveled looking music scooped in his arms. He needed to get home- It was already 5:45, he’d  _ promised  _ Harrow that he’d be home in time for dinner. With his shoulder, Callum pushed the door open, walking out onto the sidewalk by the parking lot. The winter air was dry, making his hair stand up on the back of his neck. He walked down the pavement in a hurry, hardly paying attention to where he was going, and definity not paying any attention to the girl walking towards him. As he moved, he felt his shoulder  _ slam _ into something, sending the contents of his arms crashing down.

“Ow, watch it!” The girl scolded, rubbing her arm where his shoulder had hit.

“My flute!” Callum fell to the ground, noting that the other hinge had popped off his case. The girl scoffed and knelt down next to him, picking up the pages of music that had scattered across the sidewalk. Callum recognized her from his biology class, but they’d never spoken. She was wearing a volleyball uniform under a maroon and gold letterman jacket; a sports player. A jock. She definitely had the nasty attitude to go with the title.

“Watch where you’re going,” she snapped, shoving the paper’s at Callum’s chest before getting up and walking away. Paying her no mind, Callum checked the inside of the case, exhaling with relief when he saw that his flute was undamaged. But that euphoria dissipated quickly when he remembered the other broken hinge, rendering the case useless. As concerning as the situation was, only one thought was running through his head.  _ He needed to win this bet. _

——————

Soren left the aux gym as soon as he got the text from Claudia that Callum had left. As he walked shoes squeaked on the linoleum floor, and he couldn’t help but wonder if their plan might actually work. He and Rayla had been best friends for years, and the same went for Callum and Claudia. 

The plan was formulated during a build for one of Claudia’s shows. They were building the set for  _ James and the Giant Peach,  _ working on a paper-mache tree for the peach itself to grow on. Since Soren was one of the few people who was handy with a drill, he often showed up to help. Yet on this day in particular, he’d someow been roped into dunking newspaper in glue to drape over a misshapen lump of wood and wire in the shop, surrounded by sawdust and half-painted set pieces from shows previous. 

“Isn’t this fun?” Claudia beamed, pasting a strip of newspaper to the soon-to-be tree as glue dripped down her arms. “I’m having a great time, I  _ love  _ paper mache.” She stood off to Soren’s side, reaching as high as she could to paste the paper strip down, while he sat on the ground next to her, trying to build a base for the tree.

“Yep,” Soren grumbled, growing frustrated as one of his papers kept peeling off. “This is great. Definitely what I showed up to help with.”

“Oh, don’t be such a sourpuss,” Claudia said. “This tree is vital to our production.”

“I’d rather be hammering stuff together.” he said, almost spilling the bowl of glue onto the floor. His hands were caked in the stuff, getting all over his clothes. “These were my favorite shoes, too.” Before Claudia could respond, a familiar face appeared from around the corner.

“Hey, Claudia, quick question,” the kid said. Soren recognized him as Callum, one of Claudia’s best friends. Apparently he was an artist, constantly working on costume designs and set paintings. 

“What’s up?” she asked. 

“Amaya needs to know where you put the show bible, and she says you had it last.” 

“Oh, yeah, It’s on the prop table backstage,” she confirmed, wiping her cheek, smearing glue all over her face. 

“Thanks,” he said, hiding a smile. “You’ve got something on your face.”

“Oh,” Claudia tried to wipe it away, only making a bigger mess. “Did I get it?”

“Sure,” Callum replied, laughing to himself. “By the way- Amaya also wants to see the finished centipede costume soon. Is it done?”

“It would be if you hadn’t added so many legs.”

“He’s a centipede. Be glad I didn’t make my design scientifically accurate, otherwise there’d be thirty legs instead of just twenty.”

“Nerd,” Claudia teased, Callum smiling as he left the shop. Soren looked between the two of them. 

“So are you two dating yet?” he asked, no filter.

“What? No, ew. We’re friends,” she replied, slightly offended. “He’s like the brother I never had.”

“I’m your brother,” Soren complained. Claudia shrugged, ripping a new sheet of newspaper into strips.

“I like to pretend you’re not.”

“Rude.”

“Besides, Callum’s way too busy for a relationship right now. He’s got so much stuff going on, he wouldn’t be able to pay his poor significant other any attention.”

“You could say the same about Rayla,” Soren agreed. “She works too hard. Takes on too many responsibilities.”

“They’re too similar,” she replied. “One time, Callum came into school ten minutes late, paint stuck in his hair. When I asked what happened, he said that he’d stayed up all night working on an art project that wasn’t due for another  _ two weeks _ . He’s insane.”

“Rayla’s almost the exact opposite,” Soren said. “Aside from volleyball, she hardly ever does her homework.”

“I bet they’d be friends,” Claudia laughed to herself. “They could go on study dates and such. Maybe Callum could help her focus up, she could help him relax…” Claudia trailed off, deep in thought, her hand freezing as she stuck another glue-soaked paper to their tree. Then, her face lit up in an all-too-familiar fashion. She tapped her finger to her nose, giggling to herself.

“Oh no,” Soren groaned. “What is it.”

“What if we set them up!” she exclaimed. “They’re perfect opposites- and oppsites attract! And they could help each other- they’d be a great pair!” Claudia was practically jumping up and down with excitement. “And then  _ our  _ best friends would  _ also  _ be best friends, and we’d be one happy group of best friends! It’s the perfect plan, Soren!”

He considered these words. “So- we’re pushing Callum and Rayla together?”

“Yeah! Are you in?”

“Hmm.”

“Please!” She clasped her glue-covered hands together. Soren grimaced at the clumps of glue on her arms and on his shoes. 

“If it means I never have to do paper mache again, I’m in”

That conversation was at least a month ago. They’d been sitting on this plan for weeks, trying to silently push Callum and Rayla together, but it didn’t catch. They literally had no clue the other existed. Finally, with Valentine’s day on the way, Soren and Claudia had given up on formalities, deciding to get the two to at least  _ talk  _ to one another by any means necessary. 

He walked into the band room just in time for Claudia to push the practice room door closed behind her. 

“It worked,” she said with a grin. 

“Same here,” Soren smiled. “You think we’ll actually get them to get together?”

“Trust me,” Claudia smirked, “I’m the master of romance novels. I know  _ exactly _ how to get them together. Just you wait.”

——————

Rayla arrived home to find the house in pristine condition. Of course, it was always clean, but Ethari was something of a neat freak. Every month or so, he tore the whole house apart, vacuuming every corner and crevice. Today was one of those days.

“I’m home,” Rayla yelled through the house as she stepped inside, kicking off her shoes.

“Don’t track in any mud!” Runaan yelled from the kitchen. “Come help set the table for dinner.” As he spoke, the smell of garlic bread reached Rayla’s nose. With a smile, she went into the kitchen to help Runaan and Ethari with dinner. There, she was met with dishes piled in the sink, Ethari placing more on top of the ever growing mountain. Runaan, with hands encased in oven mitts, carried a pot of pasta to the table. Rayla moved to the cabinet, taking a stack of three plates and cups to bring to the table. The three wove around each other in their dinner preparations, almost stepping on each other's feet, but working together was never a struggle. In fact, helping her family get ready for their meal together was one of Rayla’s favorite parts of the day. 

Three plates, three sets of silverware, three glasses filled to the top with ice water, their main dish in a pot in the center, and multiple sides covered the table. And of course, three people, each finally settling behind their place after a long day. Dinner always started with Runaan taking a large helping of whatever Ethari had made.

“So, Rayla, how was school?” Ethari asked, accepting the pot of pasta from Runaan, scooping himself a portion of the spaghetti onto his plate. 

“It was good,” Rayla nodded, taking the pot from him and serving some herself. “Soren and I stayed after for a few hours to run a few drills, but it always ends in us competing one on one.”

“Have you gotten your grade in biology up yet?” Runaan asked, hands clasped together in a serious resolve. Rayla rolled her eyes.

“No,” she muttered. Runaan raised a brow. “I just don’t find it interesting! Why should I be expected to focus on something that I don’t find interesting?”

“Maybe you should lighten up with the bio grade,” Ethari said to Runaan before turning to his daughter. “I think if you’re passing, you’re doing just fine,” he smiled. Rayla stayed silent, twirling the spaghetti noodles with her fork. “You are passing, right?”

“Almost.”

“Good enough for me,” Ethari shrugged. 

“Well, it shouldn’t be,” Runaan countered, a slight bite in his tone. Almost angry, but not quite. “Rayla, I’d like it if you could be at least a level above passing by the time the semester ends. Can we do that?” He took a bite of garlic bread.

“Yeah,” Rayla sighed, “That’s fair.” The table was silent for a moment, nothing but the sound of forks clinking against plates. Rayla hated that sound. “Have you gotten any sales at your shop yet?” She asked Ethari, breaking the silence. 

“Yeah, actually!” His face lit up. “I got an order from Texas- two matching beaded bracelets,” he announced proudly to the table. “The order’s from a nice woman named Sandy- she says they’re for her and her daughter.” 

“That’s great, Ethari!” Rayla congratulated him with a smile. He stayed home all day, teaching flute lessons and prepping meals for the rest of the family. But his online store was something of a passion project. He’d been working on it for a while, and was always excited to fulfill a new order. 

“I’m proud of you,” Runnan said with a smile, reaching across the table to place a hand on Etharis. The two stared lovingly into each other's eyes - Rayla gagged.

“Ew,” she muttered, pushing back her chair and carrying her plate. “At least wait until I’ve left the room.”

“Done so quickly?” Ethari asked, watching her bring her plate to her sink.

“Yeah, I’ve got a bit of homework to do. I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me,” Rayla explained, rinsing off her plate and disappearing from the kitchen. She left her two dad’s in the dining room, moving instead down the hall and into her room, where she was definitely not going to work on homework like she’d said. It had been a long day, and it was time to relax and wind down. 

She curled up in an old armchair she’d dug out of the basement years ago and placed in the corner of her room. It was cozy and inviting, a place that Rayla used to unwind each day. Sitting here, she quickly forgot about any bet she and Soren had made, and instead started to plan ahead to her next volleyball match as she scrolled endlessly through her phone. 

——————

Callum arrived home almost five minutes later than he promised. As he walked through the door, he expected Harrow to be waiting behind it, ready to give his infamous lecture about how important punctuality was, and how being late meant being in last place, blah blah blah. He’d heard it a million times before, and practically had it memorized. But when Callum opened the door, the house was empty. 

“Hello?” he called as he kicked off his shoes. No response. “Ezran? You home?” He set down his bag and flute case next to the staircase as his voice echoed through the empty house. Well, almost empty. From upstairs came a small  _ ring-ring!  _ Down the staircase moved a small, black cat with a bell on his collar. Upon seeing the cat, Callum smiled. “Hey, Peter,” he said as the cat came up closer. “Where is everyone?”

“Meow,” said Peter.

“Very insightful,” Callum replied, picking up the cat and scratching his head as he walked into the kitchen.

The story of Peter the cat was one that Callum loved to tell, and he remembered it perfectly. Almost two years ago, he stepped off his bus to head home for winter break. It was a frigid day with aggressive winds and cloudy skies, the threat of snowfall looming over the whole county. His route home wasn’t normally a hard one to take, but the wind bit his nose and cheeks until they were numb, limbs growing cold enough to slow the whole walk. Aside from this chilly setback, Callum never anticipated the walk to have any other surprises. Yet as he went, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. 

Every few paces, he’d hear a rustling in a bush beside him. He’d stop, turn towards the shrubbery and investigate, but there’d be no one there. So he continued on the walk, thinking nothing of it. Perhaps it was a rabbit or squirrel making their way home. 

Then he heard the sound again. And again. And again. Fed up with whatever was stalking him, Callum whipped around to face the seemingly empty sidewalk behind him. 

“Okay!” he yelled out to no one. “I know you’re following me. Who’s there?” Silence answered back, but Callum didn’t budge. He kept watching the bushes for any sort of movement, for evidence that he wasn’t making these noises up. For what felt like forever, nothing happened. No movement, no sound, no nothing. So Callum decided to dismiss this whole thing as his imagination, turning to walk back home again.

Right as he faced forward again, though, he came face to face with a small creature blocking his path. A teeny black mass with bright, curious green eyes stared up at him expectantly. Callum stopped in his tracks, staring right back at the cat he’d just found.

“Hello,” he said simply. “Are you the one who’s been following me?” The cat obviously didn’t answer. Instead, it sat down on the sidewalk, looking up at him still. That’s when the wind picked up, and Callum noticed the poor thing wasn’t doing so well. Kneeling down, he saw the cat shivering cold, limbs stiffened and pressed close to its body, trying to stay warm. Callum reached out a hand, noticing the cat didn’t flinch one bit. In fact, it welcomed a scratch on the head, pressing into his hand. 

Around them, the wind picked up again, causing the poor cat to start shivering. Callum needed to get home soon- Ezran and Harrow were waiting for him, and he couldn’t be late again. But he also couldn’t leave this cat out in the cold for another second. Without thinking, Callum scooped up the cat in his arms, and began to run home as quickly as he could. The cat did not object, and began to melt into his arms instead. 

Fast forward a week, after hanging “found cat” posters all over the neighborhood, no one claimed the cat. Soon enough, it was time for the family to decide what to do with it. 

“I’m not sure if we should keep it,” Harrow said through a stuffy nose at the dinner table that night. “Ezran already has his toad, and I would hate for something unfortunate to happen because a certain someone got too curious.”

“We can keep him out of Ez’s room,” Callum protested. “I’ll take such good care of him, I promise! I’ll feed him and walk him every day, and I’ll clean his litter box-“

“I’m just not sure how much more of this I can take,” Harrow reminded him through a sneeze. He was certainly allergic to cats. “Let’s wait a few more weeks and see if anyone calls for him. We can’t keep someone else’s pet.”

“He was outside all alone! He doesn’t have a collar, and the vet said he didn’t have a chip. Harrow, I think he’s a stray,” Callum said. The cat sat at his feet under the table. 

“Still, we never know.” Harrow sneezed again. “We’ll keep the cat until he finds his home. That’s final.”

Two years later, they still had the cat. When no one called, Callum named him Peter. Not for any particular reason- he just liked the name. Harrow eventually found some allergy meds to keep his cat allergy at bay, and Callum gained a new best friend. 

Now, he carried Peter with him into the kitchen where he found a note stuck to the fridge:  _ Ez and I went to the grocery store to get a few things for dinner tonight. We’ll be back by seven.  _ Harrow was always on the go- this didn’t surprise him in the slightest. 

“Well, Peter, looks like it’s you and me for a while.”

“Meow.”

“What should we do until they get back?”

“Meow.”

“Making cookies sounds like a great idea, Peter. I’ll get the measuring cups out, you get the chocolate chips from the pantry.”

“Meow?”

“Fine, I’ll do it.” Callum set Peter on the ground and walked to the pantry, cat in tow behind him. A quiet house was rare- perfect for baking; perfect for escaping from whatever happened at school that day, and for planning how he’d spend his evening. The bet (which he’d already forgotten) had no room in those plans. 


	2. january 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What started as a boring day at school quickly turned a very awkward couple hours. When Rayla recieves a more than strange text from Soren, she starts to realize that there’s something fishy going on.

The clock on the wall of the classroom ticked unusually loud. The class was near silent, the teacher sitting behind their desk as the students worked. The only sound in the room was a steady  _ tick… tick… tick…  _ Rayla hated it. Especially in this class, right before lunch, when the room was filled with a restless energy, edged only by the ticking seconds. Knees bounced, breaths were held, just waiting for the lunch bell to sound. Through the suspended silence, piercing the quiet, Rayla’s phone buzzed. 

**Soren (10:53 a.m.):** can you come down to the aux gym for lunch

**Soren (10:53 a.m.):** i have a question and its urgent

**Rayla (10:53 a.m.):** that’s not suspicious at all

**Soren (10:54 a.m.):** please

**Soren (10:54 a.m.):** its kinda important

**Rayla (10:54 a.m.):** you know i can tell when you're lying, right?

**Soren (10:55 a.m.):** just meet me in front of the gym

**Soren (10:55 a.m.):** i promise it's important

Rayla sighed, staring at her phone, weighing her options. She could ignore him, get lunch and have a completely uneventful rest of her day,  _ or _ she could see what he had planned. Soren always had something up his sleeve, and she ventured if he was being this pushy, it was for a good reason. 

The bell overhead rang, and the classroom erupted into chaos as students stuffed their books into their bags and made their way from the room. What could she have to lose?

**Rayla (10:56 a.m.):** fine, i’ll be there

**Rayla (10:56 a.m.):** this better not be another prank

**Soren (10:56 a.m.):** it’s not. get here soon

Yet as soon as Rayla got to the aux gym, she was having trouble believing that was true. Soren waited outside the door, scanning the halls for her amongst the sea of students that swarmed around him. Rayla contemplated turning around and abandoning the whole thing, but when Soren spotted her, he practically ran over. Grabbing one of her shoulders, he turned her back the direction she’d come from.

“Uh, what’s this?” Rayla asked, shaking his and from her shoulder. “You said this wasn’t gonna be a prank.”

“It’s not, it’s not,” Soren assured her, running a hand through his hair. Rayla shook her head.

“Yeah, I don’t buy it. What’s happening?”

“Nothing, we’re just going to the black box.”

“Why?”

“I forgot something.” He ran his hand through his hair. Again. They walked against the flow of the students in the hall; fish swimming upstream. Rayla dodged a classmate as she let out a scoff.

“You are so clearly lying. Where are we even going- Woah, watch it!” Soren had grabbed Raylas arm, pulling her across the hallway, stopping her right in front of a closed door to room 111. The black box. What on earth were they doing here? Rayla was pretty sure neither of them had set foot in that room in the history of forever. What could he have “forgotten” in there, and why did Rayla have to be a part of it?

“Follow me in?” Soren asked, pulling open the door. He walked inside without waiting for an answer, just as the late bell sounded overhead. Rayla followed, annoyed, but slightly curious to see how this lie would pan out.

They walked into a nearly empty black box side by side. Rayla had never been in the black box, and frankly, she wasn’t sure she’d ever want to return. Everything was painted black; the walls, the ceiling, even the floor. Old show posters covered the walls, and costume racks lined up against the back of the room, making the place feel even more cramped than it already was. Even the desks felt off putting. Despite obvious efforts to keep them in rows, each one was out of line, pushed next to another or toppled over all together. The black box was dreary, dingy, and covered in dust. Rayla hated it. 

Director Amaya sat at her desk, reading glasses balanced on her nose as she read through her inbox, and Callum and Claudia sat in their desks at the far side of the room, making notes on a shared piece of paper. As the two walked over, Claudia’s face lit up.

“Oh, hey, Soren!” she said in mock surprise. “Fancy seeing you here!”

“Yep,” Soren replied in equal awkwardness, “I’m just here to get… the thing.” He ran a hand through his hair (again). “Rayla, could you wait here while I get the thing from over there?” He gestured to the entire room, purposefully being super vague in his direction. 

“Uh, sure,” Rayla replied, glancing nervously at the pair in the desks. “Why did you have me come here if you didn’t need my help-“

“Just- I don’t know, make friends or something, I’ll be right back,” Soren said, taking a step backwards. In a split second, he turned and ran through an open elephant door, right into the shop. Rayla knew something was up. Soren was lying about something. He only ever ran a hand through his hair  _ without _ a mirror in front of him unless he was hiding something. Regardless, there she was, alone with Claudia and some other kid she recognized from biology. 

“Hi, Claudia,” Rayla said, sitting on the desk next to her’s and shoving a hand in her jacket pocket.

“Oh, hi!” She beamed, eyes wide with excitement. “Have you met my friend Callum?” Claudia gestured to the desk on her other side, where a scrawny kid in a red scarf sat hunched over a messy stack of papers, almost refusing to look up. 

“I think we’re in bio together,” Rayla nodded at him, trying to catch his eye. “You’re the kid who ran into me outside the other day, right?”

The kid sunk lower in his seat, glancing up with caution. “Yeah,” he said, “Sorry about that.”

“Oh, it’s fine.” She sucked in a breath. “I’m sure it was an accident.”

“It- uh, yeah, it w-was. It was an accident.” Unsure of how to continue the conversation, he went back to sketching on the papers. Meanwhile, Claudia glanced between the two of them in a weird, giddy excitement. She kept smiling, as if she was waiting for one of them to say something. But when neither of them did, her lips pressed together in confusion. 

“So… what are you working on?” Rayla finally asked. Claudia stayed silent, looking to Callum to explain. He didn’t seem to catch the drift.

“Callum,” Claudia hissed, causing the poor kid to jump. “She asked what you’re working on.”

“Oh, right,” he said, spreading out each of the papers. “Clauds and I are designing costumes for the show this spring. This is what we have so far.”

Rayla looked at the papers, impressed at the six figures he’d drawn, each donning impressive costumes. The one labeled “Miss Scarlet” wore an exceptional red dress, “Mrs. Peacock” had an impressive feathered headdress, and “Professor Plum” donned a fancy maroon suit. The other three figures were unfinished sketches, with messy outlines surrounding them. 

“These are cool,” Rayla said, studying the paper. “You drew these?”

Callum nodded. “Claudia and I came up with the designs together, but we’re only halfway through.”

“Cool.” The conversation came to an awkward end, and Callum nodded in thanks before bringing his focus back to the pages. Rayla glanced around the room, knee bouncing, wondering if Soren had died and left her alone with his weird sister and her weirder friend. 

“So, Rayla, you play volleyball, right?” Claudia asked, eyes wide with interest. Rayla looked down at her varsity jacket, eyebrow raised.

“I mean, yeah,” Rayla replied, biting back a snarky comment. Wasn’t it obvious? “I made varsity this year. I’m on Soren’s team, actually.”

“Oh, that’s really cool! You know, Callum’s a bit of a volleyball fan himself-“

“What? No I’m not,” his head snapped up from the desk, glaring at Claudia, who plastered a very fake smile on her face.

“Yes, you are,” she whispered through gritted teeth.

“I know what you’re doing and I need you to cut it out-“

“Cut what out?”

“You know what, I’m just gonna go,” Rayla interrupted, trying to hide a grimace. “It was nice meeting you both, but I’ll just catch up with Soren later.” She began to walk away from the pair, not looking back when Claudia called;

“It was nice to meet you too! Talk to you later!”

_ I hope not, _ Rayla thought to herself as she stepped out into the hallway. That was, by far, one of the strangest interactions Rayla had ever had- rivaled only to the time a customer walked into the bakery she worked at with a parrot on his shoulders. That was a fun time. 

Though she was content to be lost in the memory of the parrot as she walked down the hall, Rayla felt a tap on her shoulder. Spinning around, she found herself face to face with none other than Claudia. Great. 

“Hey, can we talk for a sec?” She asked, dropping the strange demeanor she’d had in the black box. Rayla glanced around at the empty hallway and shrugged.

“Sure, I guess.”

“So, Soren told me about your little competition,” she began. Rayla furrowed a brow.

“What?”

“You know, the bet where you find-“

“Oh, that bet,” Rayla flushed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I almost forgot.”

“Yeah,” Claudia chuckled, “What were the stakes again?”

Rayla let out a breath, trying to remember the deal she and Soren had made. “Uh, if I find a partner by the end of the week-“

“Like a romantic partner?” Claudia interrupted, batting her eyelashes in fake ignorance. Rayla blushed yet again.

“Yeah. If I can find a…  _ romantic _ partner-“ she said the word through gritted teeth, “-by the end of the week, I’ll have bragging rights or something.”

“Oooh, bragging rights over Soren, that’s a pretty good deal,” Claudia nodded in approval. “You drive a hard bargain, my friend.”

“Uh, is this what you wanted to talk to me about? Lunch is almost halfway over, and I wanted to get something to eat-“

“Right, right, your time is precious, sorry,“ Claudia laughed softly to herself. “All I’m saying is that I might know someone to take on the role you’re looking for.”

Rayla took a step back. “Excuse me?”

“You know… a partner?” Claudia smiled. “I might know a guy.”

“That’s… great,” Rayla replied, moving to turn around. 

“His name is-“

“Callum?” Rayla guessed, raising a brow. Claudia nodded. “Yeah. I’ll think about it,” she said, curt as she turned and walked down the hall to the cafeteria. Now she had another strange interaction to add to the list. 

The second half of lunch had just begun by the time Rayla found herself at the cafeteria. The place was crowded, grimey, and loud, students filling every single table to capacity. Realizing she’d have to find somewhere else to eat, Rayla stepped into the quickly moving lunch line. All she wanted was a snack and a drink, nothing crazy like the kid in front of her. They’d packed a sandwich, carrots, a milk carton, and various other snacks onto their tray. Not only was their lunch tray at capacity, but they also carried a notebook under their arm, as if their backpack didn’t have enough room. Rayla rolled her eyes as the lunch line moved forward. Kids at this school were weird. She grabbed a bag of chips from the shelf, checking her phone, seeing six texts from ten minutes ago.

**Soren (11:27 a.m.):** where’d you go

**Soren (11:29 a.m.):** hellooooo?

**Soren (11:30 a.m.):** where are you

**Soren (11:31 a.m.):** rayla where are you

**Soren (11:31 a.m.):** rayla

**Soren (11:31 a.m.):** whatever i’ll see you after school 

Rayla sucked in a breath- Soren hated being ignored. 

**Rayla: (11:41 a.m.):** sorry i left you there, your sister was kinda creeping me out

**Soren (11:41 a.m.):** she does that to everyone. did u meet the other kid

**Rayla (11:41 a.m.):** he wasn’t any better

Distracted by her phone, Rayla took a step forward to keep in time with the lunch line. Except the lunch line hadn’t moved. Instead of a space in front of her, like she’d hoped, Rayla ran smack into the kid in front of her. He jumped, dropping his notebook, startling Rayla into dropping her phone.

“Sorry,” she said, bending down to pick it up, “I didn’t see where I was going.” She grabbed her phone and started to pick up the notebook that had dropped. It was lying face open, neatly packed notes, color coded and annotated perfectly.

“It’s okay,” the kid said, a familiar voice reaching her ears, “It was an accident.” He crouched down, picking up the notebook before Rayla could get a closer look. She stood, looking at the kid she’d run into. Lo and behold… the weirdo from the black box, wearing that dumb red scarf. They stood, face to face, before Callum’s ears turned red. He stepped forward in the line, Rayla close behind. 

Should she say something? They’d just spoken barely half an hour ago, she knew his name. But he hung out with Claudia, who was far from normal. Did she really want someone like that in her circle? It felt rude not to say something, though. Well at this point, it’d just be weird. They’d been standing there in awkward silence for long enough now that it didn’t make sense to start a conversation-

“You’re Rayla, right?” Callum turned back to her, shoulders tense and eyebrows pressed in an anxious manner. So much for decorum.

“Yeah. And you’re Callum?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.” Rayla watched as he moved forward again, nearing the register to pay for his lunch. Why did he say something? He just made this whole scenario ten times more bizarre and uncomfortable. Now they were just standing there in even more awkward silence. Rayla grabbed a bottle of lemonade from the shelf, deciding that once she got out of this line, she was getting as far away from this kid as possible. This was the second time she’d run into him and knocked over all his stuff. This was so  _ embarrassing. _

“So, uh, Claudia said something weird to me after you left.” Callum interrupted her thoughts with yet another unwanted sentence. 

“Oh, yeah?” Rayla blurted. “What was that?” Why did she say that. She didn’t care what Claudia said, she just wanted to get out of here.

“She kinda wanted me to- uh- to ask you out for some reason.”

“Uh, what?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s crazy, I know,” he chuckled nervously, “But then she followed you from the room, so I was wondering if she said anything to you?” He started to punch in his lunch number to pay, not looking over at her. The tops of his ears were bright red. 

To be fair, he wasn’t wrong. Claudia had said something similar to Rayla, too. In fact, based off of Claudia’s  _ I know a guy _ comment, paired with the current conversation, it wasn’t unlikely that Claudia was trying to set the two up. 

“She did say something to me, actually,” Rayla said, as Callum moved from the line. She dropped her chips and drink in front of the register, punching in her own lunch number. The lunch lady nodded at her, signifying that her food was paid for. Rayla moved out of the line, standing off to the side. 

“What did she say?” Callum asked, clutching the sides of his lunch tray until it’s contents started shaking. 

“Well…” Rayla shrugged. What could she have to lose? “It kinda sounded like she wanted us to… you know.”

“Go out?”

“Yeah, that.” This was uncomfortable for both of them. Around them, the cafeteria didn’t break pace. People moved in flocks to and from the lunch line to their tables, ignoring the two of them. They stood in silence, Rayla watching the bustling room around her, wishing she could find a way out of this conversation already. 

“So, I, uh, I know this coffee place on Main Street.” He cleared his throat. “It’s called  _ The Magic Bean.  _ Have you ever been?”

Rayla braced herself for what was about to happen. “No, actually, I haven’t,” she replied, praying he didn’t say what she thought he was going to.

“Well, uhm, they have good lattes and stuff, so I was wondering if y-you’d wanna go with me sometime?” He stared at the floor. Avoiding eye contact seemed to be his go-to defense mechanism.

Rayla sighed. She wanted to say no. He was a weird, artsy kid who wore the same scarf every day and smelled like acrylic paint. But then she remembered her bet with Soren. She’d found a date, that was half the deal. A date with someone she didn’t hate. The only problem was that she’d be using him. Rayla was many things, but a manipulative cheat was not one of them.

But it was one date. If they didn’t click, she’d move on to someone else. She had all week to find another person. “Why not,” she shrugged, “I’m free tomorrow at four.”

“Yep!” Callum squeaked, “Four sounds good!” He nodded, rocking back and forth on his feet before repeating, “Tomorrow at four. I’ll see you there!” Before Rayla could get in another word, he turned around and hurried away. Now Rayla had a fourth strange interaction to add to the list. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much for reading!! this chapter was tons of fun to write and im super excited for everyone to read. thanks to my friends claire and rita (@SAILORAYA and @sxlvergrove on twitter) for being a huge part of the writing process!


	3. january 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nerves build as Callum prepares to today’s date, which can only go one of two ways.

The day went by in a blur. Callum normally had an excellent memory, but if anyone asked him what he did at school today, he wouldn’t have an answer. He was too busy thinking about the mess he’d gotten himself into. He actually asked someone out. He  _ actually _ did it, and she’d said yes. Part of him still couldn’t believe he’d done it, even if it was for a bet.

Lunch time rolled around, and Callum just needed a minute to breathe. Instead of going to the cafeteria and risking the chance of running into Rayla (and experiencing yet another awkward encounter), he headed to the band room. The crowded halls thinned out the closer he got to the music hall; no one else really spent their free time in the arts wing anyways. Keeping his head down, Callum weaved in between people until he reached room 113. The sign on the door said the room was closed for lunch, but Callum went in anyway. The director was an old family-friend, and he knew he’d let Callum stay there any time. Everyone called the director Mr. Trackerman, but Callum knew him as Corvus. 

The band room was dark when Callum stepped inside, meaning Corvus had already left for the day. That didn’t stop him from walking across the floor and locking himself in the nearest practice room. The door shut behind him and he felt like he could finally breathe. No one around, no awkward encounters, no people staring, and most importantly, no girls he’d make a fool of himself in front of. Practice rooms were a great way to escape. Despite the peeling beige paint on the cinder block walls, and the smell of dust that never came out of the carpet, and the old upright piano that was out of tune with worn down felts, practice rooms were perfect for finding a place to hide by yourself. That is, until someone knocked on the door behind him. 

He jumped, turning around to see Claudia’s face pressed up against the window with a goofy smile. Callum sighed, pulling open the door once more to let her in. 

“I saw you talking to Rayla in the cafeteria yesterday!” She exclaimed as she stepped inside, dropping her backpack against the door. Callum bit back a sigh.

“Yeah,” he replied, sitting in front of the piano. “And it was a disaster. I looked like a huge loser.”

“Well, you kind of are,” Claudia shrugged, sitting next to him on the piano bench. “But you asked her, right?”

“Yes,” he replied, exasperated.

“Well! What did she say!”

“She said yes-“

“I KNEW IT!” Claudia threw her arms around him, squeezing him tight. 

“Claudia I can’t breathe-“

“Callum’s got a date! I knew this day would come!” She pulled away, placing her hands on his shoulders. “My little baby bird has finally grown up- he’s finally leaving the nest!” She feigned wiping tears from her eyes. 

Callum frowned, turning towards the piano. “You’re being weird.”

“Well! When is it!”

“When’s what?”

“The date!” 

“Oh. Today at four.”

“Where!”

“The Magic Bean- why do you care?” Callum asked, concerned she’d use this information to crash the date. He put his hands on the keys in front of him as if he was about to play. Maybe if he looked like he wanted to practice, Claudia would stop asking questions.

“I’m just interested in the love life of my best friend,” she replied with a shrug. Callum grimaced.

“I wouldn’t call it a  _ love life _ , it’s just a date.” 

“A date that could turn into something else,” Claudia smirked. Callum rolled his eyes, striking a peppy chord on the piano instead of responding. She could be right, but it was also very likely that Callum would just ruin it. He kept playing an old song he knew, refusing to discuss the matter further. That didn’t seem to bother Claudia, who was already typing away on her phone. She smiled mischievously as her thumbs moved, which Callum decided to ignore. Whatever she was planning, he didn’t want to know.

After a minute or so, Claudia stood. “I’m gonna get some food, want anything?”

“No, thanks,” Callum replied as he kept playing. Without responding, Claudia grabbed her bag from the ground and practically ran from the room. Her excitement was nothing unusual, so instead of dwelling on it, Callum just kept playing through the song. Though it did strike him as strange when he didn’t see Claudia for the rest of the day.

——————

Callum arrived two minutes early. Walking towards the shop, he repeated his order in his head.  _ One plain iced latte, one plain iced latte.  _ The pavement crunched under his shoes and the sky threatened rain. Hopefully it didn’t before this date was over; Callum hadn’t brought an umbrella. 

He could feel his hands shaking as he went, nerves raking through him. All he wanted was for today to go well. That was it. If today went well, if he and Rayla clicked better than the last three times they’d interacted, maybe he’d have a chance at winning the bet. But if they didn’t click, Callum swore he wouldn’t try to force anything for the sake of a flute case. That was selfish and wrong and mean and Callum wasn’t any of those things, nor would he become them.

He came up to the coffee shop door, reading a  _ The Magic Bean  _ decal on the glass in purple text.  _ One plain iced latte, _ he reminded himself, opening the door. A huge bell rang over the threshold, alerting the baristas behind the counter to his presence.  _ One plain iced latte. _ Should he wait for Rayla to get here? He wasn’t really sure how this was supposed to work. Were they supposed to order together? One thing was for sure- Callum knew he’d be the one to pay. Guys always paid for the date. Right?

“Hi, welcome to The Magic bean,” a barista appeared behind the register, “What can I get for you today?”

“A plain iced latte, please,” he replied, hoping the barista didn’t hear the shake in his voice. Checking his phone, he realized it was 4:00 on the dot, and Rayla wasn’t here.

“One plain iced latte. Anything else?” The barista wrote his order in sharpie on the side of a cup.

“Uh…” Callum looked out the window, scanning the parking lot. “Not yet. In a few minutes.”

“Iced latte on the way.” As she spoke, the bell rang. He spun around to see Rayla walk through the door, appearing out of nowhere. He hadn’t seen her a second ago in the parking lot. His stomach flipped.

“Hey, you made it,” Callum smiled as Rayla got in line behind him. His pulse quickened as she stepped up. It was hard to believe this was actually happening. 

“What, did you think I was gonna ditch you?” Rayla replied. She almost sounded annoyed, but Callum decided to ignore that. She was probably just nervous, like he was.

Callum shrugged. “I don’t know.” Real clever answer. “What are you ordering?”

“Just a plain iced latte,” she said simply, pulling a wallet out of her back pocket. In front of them, the barista returned to the register.

“Alright, can I get you anything else?” she asked as she placed Callum’s drink on the counter. 

“Yeah, actually, can I get another iced latte? Plain.” He handed his card to the cashier.

“Another?” Rayla asked, coming up next to him.

“Yeah, I ordered the same thing.” He picked up the drink, handing it to her. She took it, confusion caking her expression.

“What’s this?”

“A plain iced latte. You can have this one, I’ll wait an extra minute.” Callum took back his card, hoping giving her the latte was the right thing to do. She didn’t seem disgusted by the gesture, which was a good sign. She tucked her wallet back into her pocket, looking at the cup.

“So… you and I have the exact same order,” Rayla said after an uncomfortable silence.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Great.” She didn’t sound too pleased, which diminished any hope Callum had of this interaction going well. Before he could think too much about it, though, there was a loud  _ RING!  _ that resounded throughout the building. Callum glanced back at the door, watching two figures go through it. They were wearing beige trench coats and fedoras, but something about them was off. They didn’t get in line, instead making a beeline for the table at the very back of the shop, sitting haphazardly and pulling out newspapers from inside their coats, which were then promptly held in front of their faces. This felt like something out of a movie. Two mysterious figures in trench coats and fedoras, obviously trying to keep their identities hidden. 

“Here’s your iced latte, anything else?” The barista slid the drink across the counter once more, snapping Callum’s attention away from the suspicious pair in the corner. 

“That’s all, thanks,” he replied, picking up the latte, sparing one last glance at the figures. When he couldn’t tell who they were, he decided to let it go.

“Where do you wanna sit?” Rayla asked. Callum turned back to her, pretending the figures didn’t bother him.

“Uh, I’m- uh, well, I’m cool with wherever.”

“Not the decision making type, huh?” she rolled her eyes, walking towards a table by the window. 

“Not really, I guess,” he responded, but Rayla was several paces ahead. She’d picked the table closest to the door, right next to a big window that spanned the entire wall. The two sat across from each other, staring out the window in an awkward silence. Despite the fact that neither had looked at the other yet, Callum couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched. He glanced to his left, where the trench coats sat side by side. Weird. 

“So…” Callum said, tearing his focus away from the mystery people. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay.” Callum watched droplets of condensation drip down the side of his cup. “I have a little brother. His name is Ezran. He’s twelve.” 

“That’s nice.” Rayla took a sip from her cup, looking anywhere but Callum, as if she were bored. Callum didn’t think he was boring. Was he boring?

“What’s your favorite class in school?” he tried. That was a boring question. If he didn’t want to be boring, maybe he should think of some non-boring questions.

“I like english.”

“Oh, me too! What’s your favorite book we’ve read this year?”

“I didn’t read any of them.”

“Then… how are you passing?”

“Sparknotes.” She took another sip, clearing her throat afterwards. Whatever was outside the huge window seemed miles more interesting to her than anything Callum had to say. She stared, shoulders slumped in poor posture. It was like she didn’t even want to be there. Maybe…. maybe her apathy was some sort of sign, which was a bummer. Aside from Rayla, Callum didn’t know if there’d be anyone else he could ask out. Then he’d for sure lose the bet. 

“You play volleyball, right?” he asked, giving it one more shot. Rayla seemed to perk up.

“Yeah. Almost every day, after school,” she said, sitting up a bit. “Do you play a sport?”

“No, not really,” though as the words left his mouth, he wished he’d fabricated a lie. As soon as he said ‘no’, any interest Rayla had shown dissipated. “I play flute, though. And a lot of other instruments.”

Normally, people would ask which instruments he played, curious to hear what his musical limitations were. Rayla just replied with a simple “Cool.” before slumping back down. This was beginning to feel like a lost cause. 

“How long have you been playing volleyball?” he asked, though as soon as he did, something in the corner of his vision moved. Callum remembered the trench coats, and was suddenly unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched.

“Eight years,” Rayla replied, “And I’ve been in varsity for two.” She sat up, proud, fiddling with her sleeves as if it were her jacket. As she did so, one of the figures coughed. 

Callum glanced to his side, catching a better view of the trench coats. The taller one had familiar blonde hair peeking out from under the fedora. 

“Eight years. That’s cool,” he said, stealing another glance at the spies. The shorter one lowered her newspaper, revealing bright green eyes that watched Callum’s table. He spun in his seat, gripping the edge of the table, hoping the people weren’t who he thought they were.

“What are you doing?” Rayla stared at him with a frown.

“Uh, n-nothing.” He cleared his throat. “Nothing at all.” His voice cracked, and Rayla eyed him suspiciously. Then, she sighed, leaning back in her seat, as if this strange behavior had been the last straw. 

As if on cue, one of the figures at the other table sneezed. Against his better judgement, Callum looked over again, just in time to see one of the newspapers fall, revealing Soren wiping his nose on his sleeve. That’s when it clicked.

“What are you looking at?” Rayla asked, following Callum’s gaze.

“Nothing!” he exclaimed, snapping his head forward, hoping Rayla wouldn’t realize who was here. “I’m not looking at anything. Just you.”

“Me?”

“Well, I mean- You’re here. We’re here.” Callum took a sip of his latte, staring at the table. This was not going well.

“Uh-huh,” Rayla replied, doing a bad job at hiding her confusion. 

“Sorry- I just- I can get distracted easily.”

“That’s… fine. I guess.” She sighed, taking a sip of her latte. It was still mostly full. “Thanks for paying, by the way,” 

“Oh, yeah, sure, no problem.” He placed his own cup on the table, glancing at Soren and Claudia, who were most definitely watching them. If it weren’t for those newspapers, Callum was sure they’d be staring directly at the two of them. 

“Okay, you are definitely looking at something,” Rayla said, turning her head in the direction of the spies.

“Wait! Wait- don’t- don’t look,” Callum said, sitting up straighter than usual and shaking the table. Rayla looked back at him, even more confused than before. Her brow crinkled, nose turned up. 

“What is going on?”

“This is crazy, but- I- listen.” Callum let out a breath, pulling his hands out from under the table. Rayla stared at him, lips twitching in an effort to hide a frown. “Don’t look now, but I think Soren and Claudia are here.” He leaned forward, as if telling a secret. “I think they’re watching us.”

“What?” She matched his hushed tone, doing her best to not look at the figures to the side. “Why! Why are they here!” 

“I don’t know!”

“Are they those people in the hats over there?”

“Yeah, I-“

“What are they doing here!”

“I just said I don’t know!”

“Did you ask them to come here?”

“What? No! Of course not.”

“Well, how did they get here?”

“I don’t know!”

“You don’t seem to know a lot,” Rayla snapped, irritated. Callum sank in his seat, heat rushing to his cheeks. Rayla leaned back, running through a million different emotions by the second, unsure of how to proceed. Risking a glance at where Soren and Claudia sat, her brows furrowed, accompanied by a frown. That’s when Callum noticed how pretty her eyes were, no matter how angry. A sparkling lavender-grey, that almost looked like snow glittering in a sunset. After a minute of thinking, her expression softened. “I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh, pink appearing on the bridge of her nose “I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m sure this is Soren’s idea of a prank or something. It’s not- I-“ she paused, searching for the words. “I didn’t mean to get mad.”

“It’s fine.” They each took an awkward sip. 

“This has… certainly been an experience,” Rayla said after a bit. Callum could already tell she was gearing up to leave. Callum didn’t want her to leave, they were just starting to get along! If it hadn’t been for Soren and Claudia, they’d be talking about volleyball right now. “You know, it’s been nice,” she interrupted his thoughts, “but I think we’re done here.”

“Wait! Wait, I- just one last thing. Please?” He looked up at her with what he hoped were pleading eyes she couldn’t say no to. One last chance- if he could have one last chance to make this experience any less awful, that would be enough. One last chance to try and get that case. Something must have worked, because she sighed and sat back down, not saying anything. Instead, she just kind of glared at him. “This is crazy,” he said, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous this was about to sound. “I didn’t want it to come to this, but, I don’t really have any other options.” He stared at his cup, thumbs fidgeting with the hem of his shirt under the table. “Claudia and I made this bet, and if I win, then, uh, she’ll buy a new case for my flute.” At the word  _ bet _ , Rayla’s shoulders tensed. Callum continued. “I don’t know if you remember from when I ran into you the other day, but it’s completely broken.” 

“Aren’t cases supposed to be strong and like.. protect the instrument?”

“Yeah, but mine’s not. And I can’t afford to buy a new one on my own, which is why I kinda really need to win this bet.” He brought one hand to his cup, holding it steady to keep his hand from shaking.

“What exactly does this bet entail?” Rayla tilted her head, curious. Callum tried to ignore Soren and Claudia across the cafe. He didn’t want to say. The details were embarrassing, to say the least. He’d make a fool of himself explaining it, and he’d probably only chase her away. Yet it was his only option. 

“Well… I’d need to find someone to spend Valentine’s day with. Claudia thinks that a- um- that a significant other or something could help me not be so… uptight, I guess.” In his head, he couldn’t believe that he was saying this out loud. He certainly hadn’t  _ planned _ on telling her about this bet, and frankly, he was worried she would think he was joking. “She says that if I can d-date someone for at least a month and over the holiday, she’ll buy the case.” Callum’s voice was unsteady as he spoke. The topic of himself was already uncomfortable, and to add the words  _ significant other _ to the equation certainly didn't help. Even so, Rayla didn’t dismiss him right away. She didn’t get up and call him weird on her way out like he’d feared she would. In fact, she grinned, rather cheekily. 

“You know,” she began, in a low, slow whisper, “Soren and I have this bet, too.”

Callum’s eyes widened. “What kind of bet?”

“Me and him have basically the same deal, except if I win, I get bragging rights.”

“Woah, bragging rights over Soren?”

“Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?”

“He’d finally shut up about how great he is!”

“I know!”

“You  _ have  _ to win this bet!”

“I know!” Rayla smiled for the first time that day. “So… what do we do about this?”

“Welp, good luck trying to find someone!” Callum grinned, reaching a hand out for her to shake.

“No, dummy,” she smacked his hand away, “I  _ did _ find someone!” 

“Oh. Then what are we doing here?”

“I found you!” Rayla smiled wider, as if that answer was obvious.

“I don’t think I follow,” he said. “You don’t like me, why would we-“

“It'll be fake!” Her voice dropped to a hushed whisper, ready to convey her plan. “We’ll pretend to be together for a month, break up after Valentine's day, and each win our respective bet! I didn’t want a relationship, and I don’t think you were ever really on board to begin with anyways. This way, we can each win our bets without having to  _ actually  _ date anyone.” Rayla took a sip of her latte, proud of her plan. The gears turned in Callum’s head. Then, it clicked.

“So… we’ll be together… but not actually?” he asked. 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Rayla said. “You in?”

“I- well-“ It was the easy way out. But she was right… Callum didn’t even want to partake in the first place. This way he’d get the case and not have to change a thing in his schedule. It was the perfect deal; everyone got what they wanted and no one got hurt. “Yeah. I’m in.”

“Great,” she breathed, checking her watch. “Look, it’s 5:00, I’m late for dinner at home, but we’ll flesh out the details tomorrow, okay?”

“Uh, okay,” He watched as she stood, pulling her backpack onto her shoulder. “When would we do that?”

“Biology. I’ll sit next to you.” She stepped closer, whispering in his ear. “If Claudia asks, we clicked instantly. Got it?”

“Yup,” he squeaked, watching as she sauntered out of the shop with a huge smile. “Biology. Tomorrow.” The door closed and Rayla was long gone. Callum tried not to look at Soren and Claudia, who were conversing excitedly in the corner, shuffling their newspapers and making a scene. 

Callum placed a hand on his cheek, the feeling of Rayla’s closeness lingering. He did it- he’d found a girlfriend. A fake one, but a girlfriend nonetheless. A girlfriend who had whispered in his ear, and though the words she said to him were lies, he couldn’t help but smile at the recent memory. Her breath had smelled like burnt espresso.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading and HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOREN! i totally forgot when i mapped out the chapters, so it’s not included, but happy birthday to our favorite spy!
> 
> as always, huge thanks to rita and claire (@sxlvergrove and @SAILORAYLA on twitter)!!! they’re the besties, and we’re all so excited for this fic ! 
> 
> thanks so so much for reading!


	4. january 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The biology classroom brings a bit of tension, especially when Callum and Rayla end up pairing together for the assignment that day.

Though Rayla was never really a fan of biology, she was sure that Ms. Plast was the best teacher she’d ever have. She was young and fresh out of college, which meant the job hadn’t worn her down yet. Ms. Plast was always planning something big- whether it was dissecting an unconventional part of some unusual animal (sheep hearts, cow eyes, etc…) or partaking in a lab that replicates a microscopic process, she always had a knack for keeping her kids engaged. 

Though the class was always interesting and interactive, Rayla wished it wasn’t right after lunch. Walking into the lab to see a giant pig’s liver at Ms. Plast’s table was enough to make her stomach churn.

The lab was similar to most classrooms. With rows of graffitied desks running up and down the center of the room, scuffed linoleum floors and buzzing fluorescent lights, it was familiar as almost any room in the school. The big difference were the black countertops with chestnut cabinets against the wall both above and below. Lab tables stuck out of the counter like extra limbs, a sink and a bunsen burner at each one. Today, all lab tables had a set of test tubes, each filled with a different substance. 

While the liver at the front of the room and the mystery test tubes at each lab table was plenty strange on it’s own, Rayla was about to be even more confused.

She froze in the doorway, immediately taken aback. Her normal seat in the back of the room, the very last row, the furthest corner desk… someone was  _ sitting _ in it. Not just anyone, but  _ Claudia. _ Why on earth was Claudia in  _ Rayla’s  _ seat?

That’s when it all came flooding back. The date. The agreement. The bet. Rayla shook her head, trying to believe it wasn’t true, trying to convince herself that no, she hadn’t agreed to pretend to date… Callum. As she looked through the room, eyes landing on the middle of the front row, sitting alone and writing in a notebook was the very kid she’d be spending her time with for the next month. Out of the corner of her eye, Rayla could see Claudia smiling triumphantly, which she decided to ignore. Instead, Rayla moved to take her new spot next to… her boyfriend. She hid a grimace- the words sounded out of place in her head, no matter how real or fake they might be. Either way, she walked across the room with a fake confidence, sitting herself down next to Callum, who didn’t look up.

“So,” she said, dropping her backpack under her desk. “This is a thing now.”

“Mhm.” He didn’t look up from his notebook, instead writing his heart out on that page. Rayla glanced at the front board (trying to look past the pig liver) to see that there was a warm up for the day. 

_ One of the liver’s main jobs is to regulate sugar in the bloodstream. How might it work differently for someone with type one diabetes? _

She scoffed at the question. Rayla didn’t know anything about diabetes, how was she supposed to answer this?

“Can you believe Ms. Plast thinks we can answer this stuff?” she said, leaning over to Callum, who still didn’t look up. It was at that moment that Rayla realized what he was writing about; almost a whole page to answer the warm up, and he was still writing! She skimmed his page, finding words like  _ blood sugar _ , or  _ insulin, _ or  _ glucose receptor.  _ Rayla wasn’t even entirely sure what a glucose receptor was. “Woah, you wrote a lot.”

“Yep,” Callum said, finally sitting up. He put his cap back on his pen, skimming over what he just wrote. “Did you answer the warm-up?” he looked over at her, genuine curiosity in his eyes. The bell rang overhead, and Rayla shook her head.

“I didn’t,” she confessed. “I mean, who has that much prior knowledge of the liver and diabetes to be able to answer that question?”

“We went over it yesterday,” Callum said as Ms. Plast started to take her place at the front of the room. “I don’t think you were here.”

“Oh, yeah.” Rayla had definitely skipped. 

“It’s okay, I can help you with it later,” he whispered. The class fell silent as Ms. Plast and her frizzy green hair stood at the front of the room. She drew a huge diagram on the whiteboard in varying colors, and the sound of pencils scribbling filled the room. Rayla thought the drawing was supposed to be some funny cloud or rainbow, unsure of what it was supposed to be, but Callum knowingly copied every line on the next page in his notebook. 

“What’s she drawing?” Rayla whispered, watching his pencil move.

“A liver.”

“Ew.”

“This is important, we have a lab today.”

“We do?”

“Yeah, she told us yesterday.“

“Well, I wasn’t here.”

“I know, that’s why I’m telling you.”

“You couldn’t have told me sooner?”

“I miss Claudia.” 

“Do our two conversationalists have something they’d like to share with the class?” Ms. Plast had stopped her drawing to stare at Callum and Rayla, who were, in fact, the only ones talking. Rayla could feel the whole class staring at them from behind, and as her face grew hot, she knew she was blushing. Ms. Plast continued to stare them down, hands on her hips. Her eyes were usually bright and sparkly behind her circle-rimmed glasses, but in this moment, all they displayed was annoyance. 

“No, sorry,” Callum spoke up, “I was just telling Rayla that we have a lab today. Y’know. Since she wasn’t here yesterday.” He rubbed the back of his neck, nervous as he spoke to the teacher. Ms. Plast looked over at Rayla, raising a brow. 

“New seat?” she asked. Rayla nodded. “Maybe sitting next to my best student will help bring your grade up,” Ms. Plast teased before she turned back to the board. Rayla could feel her face go redder, while Callum let out an anxious laugh next to her. 

“Best?” he muttered under his breath. As he continued to draw, and as Ms. Plast began to teach about the liver and its functions, and how that all had to do with diabetes, Rayla came to a realization. 

Runaan had been nagging her for  _ weeks _ about getting her biology grade up. If Callum was Ms. Plast’s best student, he  _ had _ to be good at bio. Maybe he could help her get her grade up. She wasn’t normally the type who needed or cared for a tutor, but if she had access to someone who could help her get Runaan off her back, why shouldn’t she take up that opportunity?

Rayla looked over at Callum, who was scribbling furiously, glancing up every few seconds to catch what Ms. Plast was writing on the board. If she could convince him to help her, maybe the next month would be more bearable than she originally thought. Worst case scenario, she’d have someone to copy off of during the next quiz. 

“...And that is how a liver starts to wear out if it’s host has diabetes.” Ms. Plast’s loud voice snapped Rayla from her thoughts. “Any questions?” Looking around the room, she capped her marker. Satisfied when no one raised their hands, she continued. “You all got you lab instructions yesterday, so partner up, find a lab table, and get started.” The class started to shuffle loudly. “And ask if you need any help!” She called over the noise. 

Callum and Rayla were the only ones who didn’t move from their seats. After a moment’s silence, they both began speaking at once. 

“I think we should-“

“So, should we-“ 

“Oh.” Callum cleared his throat. “You first.”

“Right… I guess we should be lab partners?”

“Yeah, yep, mhm, makes sense,” his voice cracked on the last word. “Lab partners. Sounds good” Abruptly, he stood, scooping up his notebook and a stack of papers that had been on his desk. Hugging his items, Callum sped towards the nearest available lab table, spreading out his papers and turning his notebook to the next clean page. Rayla followed him to the table, pulling a stool out from under it. She watched as Callum skimmed the pages with a pen, occasionally looking up at each of the test tubes that had been set up. They were each labeled-  _ orange juice, milk, vinegar, water,  _ and  _ soda. _

“So what’s all this about?” Rayla asked, turning one of the test tubes in their stand to see the liquid inside move.

“It’s for our lab today,” Callum answered simply. “Each substance has a different pH, and we’re going to be studying the effects of pH on a liver.”

“Jeeze, what is Ms. Plast’s obsession with liver? That sounds disgusting.”

“That’s just our assignment for today. Could you go get the liver?” He looked up at her expectantly, though Rayla was confused.

“What? Why would I do that?”

“Well…” Callum gestured to the front of the room, where Ms. Plast was cutting up the liver that was on the front table into little pieces. Rayla’s face paled.

“I’m not touching that!” she exclaimed, turning around again.

Hurt showed on Callum’s face for a split second before he said “Fine, wait here.” He left all his stuff on the table and headed to the front of the room. While he was gone, Rayla decided that she would just fail biology rather than get anywhere near an actual liver. She considered herself pretty tough when it came to the bloody and the gorey, but having an actual organ in her hands? No, thank you. 

When Callum returned, his hands were covered in plastic gloves. He put down a plate with contents Rayla couldn’t look away from. Little maroon cubes of tissue bounced like jello on the plate.

“Here, put these on,” Callum said, setting a pair of gloves on the table in front of her. Rayla shook her head. 

“I’m not doing this lab,” she said, grimacing at the plate of literal chopped liver. 

“What? Why not?”

“Because  _ this,”  _ she pointed to the plate, “is atrocious. I’m not touching it.”

“It’s no different from, like, a porkchop or something,” Callum tried reassuring her. “You’ve eaten a porkchop, right?”

“I’m vegetarian.”

“Oh. Well at least put the gloves on so Ms. Plast doesn’t say anything.”

“How about if she  _ does  _ say anything,” Rayla pulled Callum’s pen from his hand and slid his notebook across the table so it sat in front of her, “we’ll just tell her I’m the note taker.”

“Will you actually be taking notes?” Callum raised an eyebrow.

“No.”

“Okay,” he sighed, pulling an extra pen from his back pocket. “Well, I’ll just explain what I’m doing so you can know how to understand the conclusion questions.”

“What? What conclusion questions?”

“From the packet we got yesterda- you know what? I’ll just help you with them when we get there,” Callum said, pulling out his phone and opening a timer. Rayla watched as he set it for six minutes, before picking up a pair of tongs. He plucked individual cubes of liver, dropping them one at a time into different test tubes. Some of them fizzed, some of them made the liquid dark and murky. Either way, it smelled disgusting.

Once all the liver was in place, Callum started the timer. “Okay,” he said, looking up. “We have six minutes before we have to start looking at the effects.”

“Why does it smell like that?” Rayla wrinkled her nose. 

“It's just the gasses being released-“

“You know what? I don’t wanna know. Let’s talk about literally anything else.” She used the pen to push the test tube stand away, Callum laughing quietly to himself. “What?” she asked.

“Nothing, it’s just- nothing.” He did a bad job trying to hide his smile. Rayla rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. We’ve got stuff to talk about anyways.” She uncapped his pen, pulling the notebook closer to her once more. 

“We do?”

“Yeah, we’ve gotta set some ground rules.”

“For what?” Callum asked. Rayla stared. Was he being serious? At her look, he realized. “OH. Right. That.”

“Okay, first rule.” Rayla started writing as she spoke. “You have to help me with biology. It’s the only class I might fail, and I need to get my dad off my back about it.”

“Biology would be easy to pass if you actually, you know, participated.” Callum shrugged. “But I’ll do my best. As long as you promise to actually try.”

“I try plenty!”

“Really?” he frowned. “You skipped class yesterday. No more doing that if you wanna pass.”

“Uhg, fine,” Rayla sighed. “Next rule-“

“Wait, don’t I get to come up with anything?” Callum interrupted, taking back his notebook and pen. “I have standards, too.” He scribbled in the book for a split second before sliding it back. Staring up at her were three words in girly handwriting-  _ Don’t catch feelings. _ It took all Rayla had to not burst into laughter right then and there.

“Are you serious?” she said through a giggle. “What makes you think I’d catch feelings for you?” At the words, Callum’s face turned red. 

“Well it- I’m just- We’ll be acting the part for so long, w-we have to make sure we can separate fiction from reality, you know?” He scratched the back of his head. “Just to make sure neither of us start method acting. So we remember that it’s… fake.”

“Yeah, okay,” Rayla laughed. That was a funny rule. Callum was definitely not Rayla’s type, there was no way she’d actually feel anything more than whatever this was for him. 

“Okay, okay, let’s move on,” he insisted, still flustered. “I’ve only got four minutes left until I have to go back to the lab. What’s your next rule?”

“I’m not gonna be a part of this for any longer than I have to,” Rayla said, writing in the book. “So we’ll break up February fifteenth, right after Valentine’s.”

“Sounds fair,” he agreed, looking back at the test tubes. “Wouldn’t want to be stuck with you for any longer than I have to.”

“Ouch.”

“Oh, please, just two seconds ago you mocked the idea of having feelings for me!”

“Shhh! Keep your voice down! No one can know this is fake, remember? Then we lose our bets.” She glanced across the lab at Claudia, who was busy poking holes in her liver pieces with a pencil. Rayla let out a breath, grateful Claudia hadn’t heard.

“That’s a good rule, actually,” Callum replied, “We can’t tell anyone the truth. Not even our family.”

“Are you kidding? My family are the last people who I want to know about this.”

“Maybe we should just keep our families out of this altogether,” Callum suggested, placing his hands on the table. “No visiting each other’s houses, no family dinners, no telling them that  _ we _ are even a thing to begin with.”

“I like that plan,” Rayla nodded. “No snitching, no telling our families about us.” She scribbled those two rules on the page. “So far, we have ‘help me with bio,’ ‘don’t catch feelings’-“ Rayla stifled a laugh- “‘No telling anyone this is fake,’ and ‘no telling our parents.’ Anything else?”

“Yeah,” Callum said, checking the timer on his phone. “Don’t make fun of my height.”

“Uh, okay,” Rayla wrote down his request. “Why would I care about how tall you are?”

“Because I’m shorter than Claudia and she makes fun of me all the time for it. I’d like to not be made fun of for being short.”

“How tall are you?”

“Five-six.”

“Hah!”

“What?”

“I’m five-seven! I’m a whole inch taller than you!”

“What did I just say about making fun of me for being shorter?”

“Right, right, sorry,” Rayla laughed as she continued writing. “Just know that I now think of you as inferior.”

“Ha ha. Very funny,” Callum said with a very intentional sarcastic tone. “We’ve got two minutes before the timer’s up. Anything else for the good of the cause?”

“Yeah- we need to figure out a way to make this convincing. We gotta do…”. She wondered how to phrase this, staring at the bubbling test tubes in disgust. “We gotta do couple-y stuff.”

“Okay…” Callum shifted on his feet, staring at his lab papers. “What kind of thing did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know…If we’re gonna be dating, we have to act like it. You gotta show up to my games, hold my hand in the hallways. Stuff like that.”

“Uhg,” Callum groaned. “I hate sports. I’ll hold your hand or whatever you want, but I’m not gonna come to a game.”

“Oh come on,” Rayla protested, already writing it down. “Going to two or three volleyball games isn’t gonna kill you. Besides-“ She set the notebook and pen on the table, folding her hands in a matter-of-fact manner. “If it doesn’t look like you support me, people will get suspicious. You’ve gotta show.”

“Fine,” Callum rolled his eyes, shaking his head, “But if I have to sit through a boring game, I’m bringing my favorite book.”

“Oh please, as if a book isn’t more boring than a volleyball game.”

“If I’m reading  _ The Giver, _ then yeah, it’s a million times more interesting.”

“Yeah, you’re not bringing a book to my volleyball games.”

“Yeah, but it’s  _ The Giver _ -“

“Look, I’ve never even read it, just promise-“

“Whaaaat!” Callum’s eyes widened in surprise as he placed a hand over his chest. “You’ve never read  _ The Giver _ ? By Louis Lowry?”

“Nope.”

“Okay well-“ He grabbed the notebook from under Rayla’s hands, scribbling on the page. “You  _ have _ to read it. It’s my favorite book of all time.”

“Ew, a book? are you serious?” Rayla made a grab for the notebook, but he pulled it just out of reach. 

“Yes, I’m serious,” he said, “If I have to go to a volleyball game, you have to read a book. And we have to meet weekly to discuss your thoughts.”

Rayla sighed, rolling her eyes. “Only if you watch  _ Naruto  _ with me.”

“Wait-“ Callum paused, giving Rayla a cheeky side eye. “You watch anime?” 

“I- Well-“

“Oh, no, you can’t make fun of me for being a nerd and then let slip that you watch  _ anime  _ of all things.”

“Ithinkitsinteresting,” she mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Callum smiled wider.

“What was that?” he teased, “I couldn’t hear you.”

“I just think it’s interesting,” Rayla repeated louder.

“Thank you,” Callum’s pen moved across the notebook page as he smiled triumphantly. “Was that so hard to admit?”

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“Yeah, okay,” he laughed. Just then, the timer on his phone ended, and the phone began to buzz across the lab table. Callum dropped his notebook and pen, stopping the timer before picking up the tongs. Any playful expression melted off his face, replaced with laser-focus as he used the tongs to pick up the first test tube from the stand. After eyeing and studying the (gross) contents, he placed it back on the stand, writing on the lab report. Rayla looked back at the stand of test tubes, lined up in a row. Each one was noticeably cloudier, and some had fizzed and bubbled. Runaan’s voice rang in her ear-  _ I’d like you to be at least passing by the time the semester ends. _ Maybe she’d implement rule number one sooner than she thought.

“So… What’s this lab about?” she said, hoping she didn’t regret it. Callum’s head perked up from where he was writing.

“Hm?”

“Rule one- help me with biology. What’s this lab about?” As she repeated the question, Callum started to smile again.

“The liver is an organ in the body that’s responsible for regulating and sorting through a lot of the things we eat or ingest, weeding out impurities and putting the stuff we need back in our systems. In this experiment, we’re studying how a different pH level affects its ability to process through everything.” He used his pen to gesture to the test tubes. “This one was orange juice, a highly acidic environment, as most citrus juices tend to be….” 

Oof. This was really boring. As much as Rayla wanted to be interested, she couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could be. Liver’s were gross, and the liquids they had been sitting in were cloudy and bubbly and hard to look at. And when Callum started talking about pH’s, that’s when Rayla really stopped caring. So what if orange juice was acidic? What did she care? All she really needed to know was if her liver was gonna win her any volleyball scholarships. So far, it didn’t seem likely. 

Yikes, volleyball. She had a practice with Soren after school today. They had a game coming up that Rayla needed to be ready for, but she had a feeling Soren wasn’t gonna be the least bit interesting. He’d likely be all over her new boyfriend, bothering her about the bet, being a distraction as per usual. She loved the guy, but he was like a golden retriever; high energy, short attention span. 

“... Aaaan you’re not listening to a thing I’m saying, are you.” Callum’s voice snapped her back to reality.

“Huh? Yes I am,” Rayla protested, sitting up. Callum raised a brow.

“Oh, really? What was I just talking about.”

“Uh…” she searched her brain, hoping her ears had picked up on at least some of the words he’d been saying. She glanced at the test tubes, one of them labeled  _ milk.  _ “You were talking about how… milk is very… acidic on a pH scale?”

Callum shook his head. “It’s neutral.”

“Oh.”

“You know what, you go back to your little rulebook, and I’ll finish up the experiment.” Callum picked up another test tube with a frown, bummed that Rayla found his little rant boring.

“I think our rules are pretty good,” she said, looking over them one last time. “Unless you have anything else to add?”

“I mean,” Callum shrugged, face going red as he placed the test tube back down. “As long as you don’t, like, try to kiss me or anything, we should be good.”

“Wait, what?” Rayla tilted her head. “If we don’t show affection like that, people might get suspicious! And by people, I mean Soren and Claudia. Our best friends.”

“This, coming from someone who made fun of the idea of having feelings for me?” Callum scoffed. “Didn’t realize you’d wanna kiss a nerd so bad.”

“It’s not that, it’s-“

“Yeah, yeah, people will get suspicious, blah, blah, blah. Look, I’m not exactly the dating type. I’ve never… you know…” he took a breath, placing his hands on the table for stability. “I’ve never been in a real relationship before. I don’t want any of my firsts to be…”

“Fake?” Rayla guessed. He nodded, sheepish. 

“Yeah,” he said. “Fake.”

“Whatever you say, you weirdo.” Rayla made a note on the page. “What do we do instead?”

“Well, I can… uh…” Callum glanced around the table, looking for an idea. His eyes landed on his pen, which he grabbed. “I can write you notes! If anyone asks, you can tell them they’re love letters or something.”

Rayla bit back a laugh. “Notes? How would that help.”

“I can write little notes on a sheet of paper, they’ll be meaningless, but onlookers will think it’s really sweet. A great alternative.” He smiled, proud of his plan.

“Okay,” Rayla shrugged, “You’ll write me a… note every day. Sure.” She added the idea to the list as Callum picked up the last test tube, writing down his findings. What he saw, Rayla had no idea, but he seemed excited.

“Alright,” he said, placing the test tube back on the stand, “We’re done with our lab for the day. I’ll deal with the conclusion questions tomorrow, but we’re otherwise good to go.” Picking up the stand, he wordlessly carried everything to the front of the room in order to dispose of their materials properly, leaving Rayla alone with their collective list.

  * Help with biology
  * Don’t catch feelings (Rayla couldn’t help but laugh at this one)
  * Break up after Valentine’s day
  * Don’t tell anyone the truth (not even family!)
  * Keep families out of it as much as possible
  * Don’t make fun of Callum for being tiny
  * Show up to Rayla’s volleyball games
  * Read and discuss _The Giver_
  * Watch _Naruto_ together
  * Write notes to help keep our cover



It seemed pretty good. All that was left to do was to sign off. 

When Callum returned, she slid him the notebook, page still opened to their rule page. At the bottom, Rayla had signed her name. 

“Sign it,” she said to him as he pulled his gloves off his hands. He tilted his head.

“Why would I do that?” he asked.

“This is a contract. Sign it, so I know you’ll honor it.”

“I didn’t realize you were a lawyer.”

“Just do it, you nerd.”

“Fine,” he sighed, picking up a pen and adding his loopy signature at the bottom of a page. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he said jokingly, sticking out his hand. Rolling her eyes, Rayla extended her own. They shook, agreeing on the most bizzare set of rules anyone would ever see. 

“So, what now?” Rayla asked, closing the notebook. 

“Well, we have a bit of an audience,” Callum muttered, glancing across the room towards Claudia’s lab table. Stealing a glance, Rayla saw her practically falling out of her seat trying to listen in to their conversation. 

“I got this,” Rayla whispered back before clearing her throat. “YES, CALLUM, I WOULD LOVE TO GO TO THE BOARDWALK WITH YOU THIS SATURDAY.” Her voice echoed across the room, and out of the corner of her eye, Rayla saw Claudia cheering to herself, much to the dismay of her lab partner. 

“I don’t know if I can do Saturday, though,” Callum protested. “I’ve got too much work to do, I need to practice.”

“Relax, we don’t actually have to go.”

“You don’t think Soren and Claudia will follow us like last time?”

Rayla sighed. “You can skip practicing for an hour and take me to the boardwalk. You won’t die.”

“But-“

“You’ll be fine,” she stood, pushing Callum’s notebook towards him. Overhead, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. “See you later, okay? I’ll text you.” 

“Bye,” he replied, watching as she grabbed her backpack and rushed from the room. 

Stepping outside of the biology classroom, Rayla let out a sigh of relief. Keeping up that charade had really drained her energy, and having to up the play on Saturday sounded like a nightmare. She was dreading it already. 

——————

“You did it!” Claudia cheered, running over towards Callum’s lab table. “You got an actual real girlfriend!” She tackled him in a hug, squeezing him tight.

“Yeah,” he strained, “A real girlfriend-“

“Saturday!” Claudia let go of the hug, holding his shoulders instead. “The boardwalk on Saturday. It’s gonna be so much fun!”

“Totally,” he let out a nervous laugh. “So much fun.” Callum pushed her hands from his shoulders. As he did so, though, her eyes landed on his notebook, still open on the table.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Nothing!” He grabbed the notebook, hugging it to his chest, no doubtedly bending all the papers inside. “Just some notes from today.”

She raised her eyebrows, less than convinced. “Cool,” she said, suspicious. Though, the energy quickly disappeared, and a smile rose to her cheeks once more. “I’m so proud of you! I’ll see you after school, ‘kay?” 

“Yup,” he sighed, “See you then.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg hi! thanks so much for reading this chapter! it was So so much fun to write, so i really hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> in case you couldn’t tell, this chapter was especially influenced by one of my favorite movies- To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before. The parallels are pretty similar, and i highly recommend the movie!
> 
> not to mention there’s a new character in this chapter! the biology teacher, ms. Chloe Plast is an oc of mine! her name is a play on the word ‘chloroplast’, which is the pigment in plants that make’s them green! fittingly, ms. plast has bright green hair. she’s a ms. frizzle-esque character that will for sure come back in the future, so i hope you like her! 
> 
> as always, huge thanks to claire and rita (@ SAILORAYLA and @ sxlvergrove on twitter) for their influence and partnership in this project! 
> 
> thanks again for reading <3


	5. january 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second fake-date of our favorite duo starts to go slightly sideways. But as things always do, they end right side up... with a little confusion blooming along the way.

“This is insane,” Callum spoke aloud, though he was alone in his room. Well, alone if it weren’t for Peter, who sat on the bed, watching Callum pace. “I just can’t believe this happened. This is actually happening.”

“Meow.”

“I know! I’m just as surprised as you are!” Step. Step. Turn. “I mean, I walked into that coffee shop with pure intentions, sure, but now I’m lying to  _ everyone. _ ” Step. Step. “How am I supposed to keep this secret from Claudia for a  _ month? _ ” Turn. Step. Step. “I’m about to go on a fake date with a fake girlfriend. Have you heard of anything so- so- so _ ludicrous!? _ ” He stopped in front of his bed, directly across from the cat. 

“Meow,” Peter said, judgingly. Callum scoffed.

“S.A.T. word.”

“Meow.”

“Listen, Peter, I’ve gotta leave in, like, three minutes. Do you think you can hold down the fort while I’m gone?”

“Meow.”

“Thanks, bud,” Callum sighed, relieved. He knew the cat probably didn’t understand what he was saying, but it was comforting to pretend he did. “Any idea what I should wear, at least?” he asked, walking towards his wide open closet. “I’m thinking… the blue flannel with a sweater underneath. It’s gonna be cold.”

“Meow.”

“It’s not gonna snow,” Callum groaned, pulling the flannel off the hanger. “It never does when they say it will. I’ll be fine.” He put the flannel on over the sweater he was already wearing, making a grab for his scarf that sat on the edge of the bed. It was a lucky scarf, one his mom gave him when he was younger. It matched the outfit perfectly, which was nice, but he never left home without it anyways.

“Meow,” said Peter.

“I know, I know, I’m gonna be late,” he said, wrapping his scarf around his neck. “Thanks for your help, bud. I’ll see you when I get home.”

“Meow!”

“Oh, shoot, you’re right!” Callum exclaimed, making a run for his desk. “I almost forgot, thanks for the reminder.” He dug out a sticky note, scribbling a sentence on it before folding it into his pocket. He sighed and gave the cat one last scratch under the chin, looking around the room before he left. His eyes landed on his music corner. Sheet music scattered around the floor, the stand lopsided and almost falling over, flute lying on the open case where he’d left it. A small voice in his head scorned him for not practicing today, but Callum ignored it. He’d been too nervous all day. He hadn’t accomplished anything- he hadn’t even figured out what to paint for his art project like he said he would.

Ugh- the art project! Callum had completely forgotten! He swiveled around, staring at the easel in the other corner. The canvas was covered in eraser streaks, not making out a shape at all. 

“Meow,” Peter said to him.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll figure it out later,” Callum said, deciding to ignore the canvas for now. “Don’t get into trouble,” he said to the cat, finally taking a breath and leaving the room, less than ready for what was to come. 

  
  


Callum arrived at the boardwalk they’d agreed to meet at. It was unlike any other boardwalk that he’d ever been to, but it was honestly way more fun and a perfect date idea. Under different circumstances, this would be a lot more special.

The boardwalk was several meters wide, with kiosks, game booths, vendors and shops lining either side. At the very end of the walk, half a mile away, loomed a giant ferris wheel. Callum had never been on it, and he was not planning on ever breaking that streak. Even so, there was plenty to do, and lots to see. It was crowded and busy despite the cold, people laughing and shouting and almost drowning out the sound of the ocean below. A million different songs played all at once, one for every booth. The lights from each attraction lit up the space like a beacon, making the place come to life as the sun started to set. Looking at it all, Callum started to get overwhelmed. 

“Hey, stranger,” came a voice from behind. Callum twirled around, coming face to face with Rayla, who looked great. Well, not that she ever didn’t but the golden sunset light and the boardwalk shining on her face, well… 

“Hey,” Callum greeted her with a smile. “Nice jacket, never seen it before,” he teased, nodding to the varsity jacket that she wore every day.

“Aw gee, thanks.” She stepped up to him expectantly. Callum dug the sticky note out of his pocket, holding his hand out for her to take it.

“For you, as promised,” he said. Rayla stared at the note.

“ _ ‘You are like the ocean; cold and scary.’ _ ”she read aloud, unamused. “Gee, thanks.”

“Oh come on, that’s funny,” Callum protested as she started to walk away. “I know it’s not on the contract, but you can laugh at my jokes.”

“Yeah, that costs extra,” she said, pocketing the note. “Am I scary to you?”

“Well, y-“ he glanced over at Rayla, who was glaring at him as they walked. “No, no, not at all. You’re, like, the opposite of scary,” he offered through a laugh. 

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“Yeah, I actually don’t find you scary at all. You’re like- “

“No need to elaborate.”

“No, you’re great!” Callum said. “Never once was I intimidated by you.”

“That voice crack in the cafeteria the other day tells me otherwise,” she chided, raising an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t nervous then! I’m a growing boy and it’s completely natural.”

Rayla laughed. A genuine laugh. A really pretty laugh. “Right, right. And we’re just going to pretend I couldn’t see your lunch tray shaking in your hands?”

“Yes, actually. I would appreciate that.”

“Mhm, sure. You weren’t scared at all.”

“Exactly” Callum agreed, and the two shared a laugh. After a moment, though, Rayla tensed. She glanced to the left for half a second, before her eyes widened.

“What’s wrong?” Callum asked, though she didn’t answer, instead speeding up. Something was amiss. “Woah, where are we going?”

“Don’t look now,” Rayla said, placing an arm around his shoulder and steering faster down the walkway. “Soren and Claudia are following us again.”

“Again? We  _ just  _ got here like two minutes ago. You’ve gotta be kidding!”

“Why would I be?” Her arm was heavy across his back, and Callum pretended his skin wasn’t tingling under the weight. “They look really stupid- the same trench coats as last time, but now  _ both  _ of them have a fake moustache.”

“As if that’s gonna keep us from recognizing them,” he said with a sigh. “Why do they keep following us?” Callum wondered aloud as they wove through the crowd. “Do they not trust us? Are they just curious? Did you say something to tip them off?”

“I don’t know why they keep showing up, but if they didn’t trust us, they have good reason, remember?” Rayla stopped in front of a game kiosk that had bright neon lights shining onto the both of them. “Whatever happens, we have to play it cool.”

“Right.” Callum glanced at the kiosk, taking note of the balloons that had been hung on a pegboard in the back of the booth. Stuffed animals had been shoved and hung from every corner of the booth like christmas ornaments, the barker behind the counter unboxing even more to place around the booth. That’s when Callum had an idea. “So, this is a date,” he said, eyes still scanning the booth. 

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“Why don’t we just… do date stuff. Take one of the rides, share a bucket of french fries or something, make it convincing. Hell, I’ll win you a prize right now!”

“All that to keep Soren and Claudia off our tail?” Rayla asked, crossing her arms. “Seems like a lot of work.”

“Our rules, remember?  _ Don’t tell anyone the truth.  _ That means we can’t hint that this-“ he pointed between the two of them- “is a lie. We both have bets we want to win, and if they find out, all bets are off. Bragging rights, remember?”

Rayla rolled her eyes, leaning against the counter. “I hate it when you’re right,” she said with a sigh. Callum didn’t notice the jab, instead taking note of the way the rainbow lights of the boardwalk carnival lit up her hair and put sparkles in her eyes. He clenched his eyes shut and shook his head, digging a wad of cash out of his pocket.

“I wanna try, please,” he yelled, slapping a five on the counter. The barker sighed, putting down her box of stuffed animals.

“You get five shots,” she said, pulling a handful of darts from her jacket pocket and dropping them on the counter. Callum picked up one of the darts, pulling his arm back, aaannnddd-

“BOO!”

“AHH!” 

Rayla grabbed Callum’s shoulder, yelling in his ear, causing him to throw the dart and completely miss the balloons. It hit the side of the board and clattered to the ground. Callum sighed, while Rayla doubled over laughing. 

“What was that for!”

“For fun,” she said, laughing. “They’re right behind us,” she said, hushed through the smile. Behind them, across the way, he caught a glimpse of their fedoras over the sea of people. Callum let out a breath. It was a charade. A ruse. A lie, no matter how warm his arm became from where she’d touched. 

“Well, you just messed up my shot,” he joked. “Happy?”

“Oh please, you weren’t gonna win.”

“Could you guys hurry up?” The barker piped up, annoyed. “You’re holding up the line.”

“Oh, sorry,” Callum reached for another dart. 

“Yeah, no way, Romeo. My turn.” Rayla grabbed the darts and threw them one by one at the board, each one sticking to the wood and leaving a popped balloon in its wake. 

“Congratulations,” the barker said, though she didn’t sound like she meant it. “You can pick anything from the top shelf in the back.”

Rayla scanned the stuffed animals, and Callum watched her eyes move. She bit her lip in thought. “What’s your favorite animal?”

“What?”

“Favorite animal. Go.”

“Uh- sea turtles. Why?”

“You heard the kid,” Rayla said to the barker, pointing to a huge plush turtle hanging in the corner. “That green sea turtle up there.”

“That’s a higher level prize,” the barker tried to explain. “You need to hit five balloons. You only hit four.”

“I don’t care. Give it.” Her face was innocent enough, hand outstretched for the plush she wanted, but her tone got dark and almost threatening. The barker sighed.

“Whatever,” she sighed, pulling the sea turtle off the hook and handing it to Rayla anyways. “Just don’t tell my boss.” 

“Here you go, nerd,” She shoved the turtle at Callum’s chest before turning and starting to walk away.

“How romantic,” Callum rolled his eyes, jogging to catch up. “Didn’t realize you were one to threaten people to get what you want.”

“I didn’t threaten anyone,” Rayla shrugged, “But I did get you that turtle.” She smiled, looking at how Callum held it to his chest. 

“Thanks,” he said, trying not to smile too wide. “That was really nice of you. Well, for me, not the carnival barker.”

“Don’t think too much of it,” Rayla muttered, leaning in. “We’ve got to make it convincing, remember?”

“Yeah, for sure.” Callum nodded. They continued to walk down the boardwalk, taking in the flashing lights and the sticky scent of funnel cake and cotton candy. For the time being, it seemed like they’d lost Soren and Claudia. But they both knew better than to assume that was the last they’d see of the pair. 

As the night continued, the crowd thinned. Every once in a while, a biting breeze flew by, reminding them that it was winter. The later it got, the more the air cooled, and soon, they were more or less alone. Aside from the vendors and a few other people, of course. And Soren and Claudia, who Callum could sense weren’t too far behind. 

They reached the end of the boardwalk, stopping across the way from the ferris wheel. Below them, the salty ocean crashed and rocked the pillars the boardwalk stood on. The lights from the ferris wheel made their way to the water, leaving pinpricks of reflected light on the waves, like stars in the sky. Still hugging the turtle, Callum leaned against the railing, watching the water below. Rayla, on the other hand, watched the sky.

“Not a cloud,” she said, breathless and in awe.

“There’s a dead jellyfish floating down there,” Callum laughed. Rayla punched his shoulder. For a split second, her gaze went past Callum’s head, surprise spreading across her face for just a second.

“Soren and Claudia, nine o’clock,” she said. “They’re getting closer.”

“What do we do?” he asked. “They’re not exactly ideal company at a time like this.”

“We go somewhere they can’t follow.” Rayla turned around and began walking towards the ferris wheel with almost a new confidence.

“Uh, can we talk about this?” Callum called after her, jogging to catch up (again). “I’m not really a huge fan of heights-“

“Me neither, but I’m a lesser fan of talking to Soren about boys. Let’s go.” She stepped up to the booth, Rayla shoving a wad of cash at the operator. “Our friends are back there. Don’t let them follow us,” she said, not waiting for the operator to count the money. Callum followed her onto the ride, wondering if a flute case was really worth the trouble. One bench with a bar across it would be the only thing separating him from certain death, and he was sharing it with a girl he hardly knew. He sat next to her, practically clutching the sea turtle plush for dear life as Rayla pulled the safety bar from over their heads. “There,” she said, sticking her tongue out at the pair of trench coats that found themselves at the foot of the ferris wheel. It would have been a funny gesture if they weren’t already rising, the wheel turning below them. 

“I don’t like this one bit,” he confessed, watching as the boardwalk below his feet disappeared, giving way to the vast and dark ocean. 

“Then don’t look down, dummy.”

“Where else is there to look!” 

“Literally anywhere else,” she said, though as she did, Callum felt her press closer to him. Something told him that she didn’t like the height either. She watched the sky, refusing to look anywhere else. 

The wheel moved slowly. The higher they got, the colder the wind became, and clouds started to roll in from the horizon. They were dark and threatening, but quiet. The waves below threatened a storm, and the way Callum’s hair stood on end only enforced that theory.

“It’s cold,” he noted as they rose. “This was a bad idea. Now we’re trapped here. Soren and Claudia will just be waiting for us when we get down.”

“Not if they get smart,” Rayla said, moving over and leaning over the edge of the chair. Callum wanted to grab her arm and keep her from falling. She stuck her hand down the side making a gesture that would have gotten Callum grounded if he’d used it.

“You didn’t just flip them off-“

“I sure did,” Rayla said, coming back up. “And they got the hint. We’re in the clear.” From her jacket pocket, Rayla’s phone buzzed. “I’m not checking that.” As soon as she said those words, the wheel froze in place. Callum and Rayla shared a glance, wondering why the ride had stopped. Then, Rayla’s face contorted in frustration. She leaned over the side again, groaning. “They got him to stop the ride!” she yelled.

“What? What are you talking about?” Callum’s heart raced. “And get away from the edge, you’re freaking me out!” 

Rayla huffed, retaking her seat, shoulder pressed against his. “They were celebrating with high fives, and the operator looked tired. They got him to stop the ride,” she said, not looking over. “They got us alone together on purpose.”

“Well that’s nice,” Callum said, though he did not think it was nice. “This can’t be why they were following us. Unless..”

“You don’t think they planned this, did you?” Rayla asked, crossing her arms to keep from the cold. “Chased us down the boardwalk so we’d get on?”

“I’m almost certain they did,” Callum bit his tongue to keep his breathing from getting out of hand. Claudia was a good friend, but she would  _ not stop meddling. _ He was angry with her, for one. This was the second time she’d stalked them, inserting herself into his business. Not to mention she got him to get on a ferris wheel when she  _ knew _ he didn’t like heights. Uhg, speaking of heights- Callum snuck a glance over the edge, looking at the waves that only got bigger. They crashed into the boardwalk, making the whole wheel shake. He yelped, moving in closer to Rayla. Looking at the sky, the clouds were rolling in fast.

“You okay?” Rayla asked, raising a brow. “You look pale.”

“Remember when you said there was ‘not a cloud’?”

“Yeah.”

“There’s a storm coming,” he said, watching the clouds. As if on cue, small snowflakes fell one by one, inviting yet another gust of wind, making Callum shiver. Wordlessly and without hesitation, Rayla shrugged her varsity jacket off her shoulders, draping it over his.

“It’s fine,” Rayla breathed, “It’s just a bit of snow and wind. Nothing we can’t handle.” Her voice was almost hesitant. Callum realized she was speaking more for herself than for him. 

“What’s this?” he asked as he looked at the jacket.

“You were cold.”

“What about you?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, though it was quite obvious she was not. Her nose and cheeks were red from the cold, snowflakes landing in her hair. Callum used a hand and pulled his scarf from around his neck, handing it to her. 

“Trade?” he said with a smile. Rayla grinned, taking it and wrapping it around her neck. 

“If this doesn’t convince them, I don’t know what will.”

“My thoughts exactly.” They were not his thoughts exactly. He was more worried for her general health, but it was best not to admit that. “Are they gone yet? Soren and Claudia, I mean.”

“I think so,” Rayla said, but she didn’t move away to lean over and check. “This is probably Soren’s fault,” she confessed. “He’s got no sense of personal space. Sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Callum shrugged. “Besides, it was probably Claudia’s idea. She alway has her nose in my business. Sorry.”

“We’ve got some weird friends, huh.” Rayla’s teeth chattered ever so slightly, and Callum could feel her trembling. Snow started falling heavily, wind picking up. The waves below shook the structure once more. The wheel started moving again, and both of them let out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah,” Callum agreed, shaking. “These past few days have been… kind of a mess.” The wheel moved slowly, making the bench swing more than it should. 

“Definitely,” Rayla agreed. There was an awkward silence, neither of them looking at one another. Rayla bit her lip, thinking. 

“It doesn’t have to be that way, though,” Callum said, staring off to the side. “I don’t like being awkward with people. Can we just… skip the awkward part and just be friends?” He looked at the turtle, and it smiled back up at him.

“Yeah,” Rayla agreed. “Friends could work. As long as we don’t break any rules.”

“For sure, no breaking rules,” he nodded. 

The ferris wheel finally came to a halt, with Callum and Rayla finally on the ground level. They each got off, Callum hoping she didn’t notice how shaky his legs were. As they walked away, the operator smiled and winked at the two of them. Callum nodded politely, but honestly just wanted to get as far away from the death wheel as possible.

As they walked down the boardwalk, snow falling frivolously, their shoulders stayed pressed together. Most of the vendors and kiosks had started to shut down for the night, fewer and fewer lights lighting up the walkway. Without words, Callum knew that Rayla just wanted to go home. 

“Do you want a ride?” he asked as they neared the entrance. “My car isn’t that far.”

“Slow your roll, pal,” Rayla laughed halfheartedly through chattering teeth. “We may be friends now, but we are not that close. Plus my dads would never go for it.”

“Understandable,” he agreed. “Are they nearby?”

“Just down the street,” she pointed. They stopped at the entrance, separating for the first time since they got off the ferris wheel. The spot where Rayla’s arm had been was cold, sending a new wave of shivers over Callum’s body. “So, I guess this is it.”

“I suppose so,” he said. Their breaths left little clouds in the air. “Thanks again, for everything.”

“Well, thank  _ you _ for a fun night.” She smiled, giving him a nod before turning around, walking along the sidewalk in the opposite direction. The snow picked up, giving the illusion that she was disappearing into the night, mysterious like a ghost.

“See you Monday,” Callum breathed as she walked, but she didn’t hear. 

It wasn’t until he got to his car that Callum realized he still had her jacket, and she still had his scarf. He shrugged, thinking nothing of it.

He’d return the jacket on Monday. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hihi! thanks so much for reading! sorry this took so long to get out, school has been a MESS for me lol
> 
> anyways, i really hope you like this chapter! its a bit on the shorter side, but is lots of fun and has some fun moments for the rayllum fans out there :) 
> 
> as always, HUGE props to my friends rita and claire. i never really explain all that they do, but they’re responsible for so many plot points and ideas that have been written and are to come! they edit what i write, make suggestions and correct my mistakes. this series would not be what it is without them! 
> 
> thanks so much again for reading! if you like it so far, support is greatly appreciated <3

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi! thanks so so much for reading chapter one of what is going to be a VERY fun project! this was written in collaboration with my friends claire and rita (follow them both on twitter- @SAILORAYLA and @sxlvergrove) !!!! 
> 
> there is no upload schedule, and we are at the height of the school year so pls bear with us since we’ll be posting kinda irregularly
> 
> one more fun fact- this series is named after a song called Burnt Espresso that fits the vibe of the fic pretty well, so we recommend listening to that song as well as every other song on our fake dating au playlist ! 
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3h4zAHeCrFCJq3wBcXkJXC?si=BypBD-UtTMmp0fNVvazfaw
> 
> anyways thanks again for reading ! we hope you’ll stick around for chapter two !


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